The First Dungeon (part 4)

(Zhong Li Lin POV)

After I got to the other side of the gate, I noticed that this side was similar to the other side of gate but here this platform had stairs to go down...soon I started to look for a way to open the gate..

"let's see.... Xin said there has to be some sort of mechanism to open the giant door..."

After sometime, I finally found a lever.....but it looked really old and rusty....

"alright, here goes nothing!!"

I immediately pulled the lever....but it didn't budge....

"urgh!!!! come on!! move!!"

after few more minutes, it finally looked like it will move.

"yes!!"

*CRACK*

".....Oh..."

the lever broke....

'OH NO!!!! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW??'

As I was already worried about my next course of action....I decided to own up my mistake and tell Xin about this Little accident.

' alright girl!! you can do this!!! own up your mistake!!'

"uh....Xin?? I don't think there's any way to open this giant door from this side .."

' ugh!!! I can't do it!!!'

soon Xin also shouted from the other side.

"what???"

I decided to lie for now.... I mean there has to be some other way.....right?

"I checked every place but there's not a single mechanism that could open it .."

'YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!'

'what should I do?? what should I do??!!'

Soon ...Xin once again shouted from the other side.

"There has to be something!!! keep finding!!!"

' there's no way this was the only way.....right? there has to be some other way to open this door!!'

I decided to ask him to check his side.

"maybe you should try something from your side as well!!!"

After that...there was no sound....but few moments later, I heard Xin once again.

"everything is alright now Li Lin!!!"

I shouted as it looked like he actually found a way...

"did you find something!!!"

"yeah!!! I found a-"

But his sentence got cut off by and screeching roar..

*ROAAAAAR!!!!!!!*

I got worried and immediately shouted..

"what was that!!!!???"

but there was no response....instead, I heard a loud noise and it felt like the other side of gate got hit by something....and finally after some time he showed up and tried to say something but soon.

*ROAAAAAR!!!!!*

after hearing this, Xin grabbed my hand and we both ran away..

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after crossing through several traps and puzzles....we finally reached a long stone bridge.

As we reached there, I heard Xin..

"This is the place, where both the paths connects, which means we're finally in the right path!!!.."

As we moved forward I started thinking what I wanted to say...

' Alright!!! just tell him that I accidentally broke the lever..... I'm sure he'll understand and easily forgive me...no.... he's not the skirt chaser Xin....but....why should I even tell him and apologise....no!! I made a mistake!!! I should own it up!!! yes you can do it girl!!'

but in the end.... I couldn't bring myself to say anything....after an awkward moment, Xin suddenly turned back and said....

"wait... Li Lin!! be careful!! there's some hidden trap in this bridge!!"

but as he said this... I step on some strange stone that made a *crack* sound....and then I realised what just happened....at that point, tears started pouring from my eyes and I screamed at Xin.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS FORGET THE IMPORTANT PARTS!!!"

soon we both looked back....and the stone bridge behind us started collapsing...seeing this we both screamed...

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"

' I REALLY SHOULD HAVE JOINED JIA LI BACK THEN!!!'

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( meanwhile at Jiang residence)

[Ran's POV]

I was with the best hackers of Jiang family, I asked for their help to hack and decode this drive that Grey gave me..

"HURRY UP!!! I DON'T HAVE ALL TIME!!"

"yes...yes boss!!!"

' *sigh* I really hate acting like a villain.....say system...do you think I should've trusted Grey?'

<what you do is all upto you host and I'll always support your decisions....>

'....still that's not the answer that I want to hear...'

I thought as I remember what he told me...

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(flashback)

"White.... I know it may sound unbelievable....but I found a way to destroy the Black Odyssey for good.."

"wha...but how?"

and he gave me that strange drive..

"first...if you have any hacker that you know....if the hacker decodes it, you might find some inscriptions....."

( flashback ended)

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as I was deep in thoughts, one of the hackers said...

"boss!!! it's been decoded..... but there are these strange inscriptions...."

as I looked at these inscriptions.... I was shocked by two reasons....one, I could clearly read these inscriptions without any problem....and second, was because of what these inscriptions meant...

"....you gotta be kidding me!!!"

I Muttered under my breath....

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(at the dungeon)

[Xin's POV]

As we were moving the stone bridge.... I remember that this is the same bridge that Ran and his harem took....but there was something that I was forgetting...

Soon I realised what it was and warned Li Lin about it....but it was too late....and now...the whole bridge was collapsing..

' I don't get it!!! ever since we entered this dungeon!!! we have been running a lot!!! but this is just too much!!!'

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"

We both were screaming at the top of our lungs while running to the other end of the bridge while the bridge behind us was collapsing at a steady speed!!!

'FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!'

Soon I noticed that at the speed in which the bridge was collapsing, only one of us could reach the other end.....and Li Lin, who was behind me, was getting slower and slower.....at the end I had no other choice....we were just too close to the other end....

"I'm sorry Li Lin!!!"

I grabbed Li Lin's hand and pulled her towards me.

"hey!!! what are you??"

before she could finish her sentence, I throw her to the other end of the bridge.

"WOOOOOOOAH!!!!!"

fortunately she landed there safely.....well atleast it looked like it....and with that I also increased my speed to max ....and before I realised, I was almost stepping on the falling parts of bridge...but that didn't stop me and I kept trying to move forward and finally as I was just about to reach the end, the whole stone bridge collapsed..and I made a jump to the other end.

"XIN!!! GRAB MY HAND!!!"

Fortunately, Li Lin wasn't unconscious despite the rough landing and I was able to grab her hand...

"PULL ME UP LIKE I'M YOUR LOST CHILD!!!"

".....eh?"

"PULL ME!!!!"

And with the help of Li Lin, I was finally able to safely reach the other end as well.....

Due to adrenaline rush, we both were exhausted and were panting .....

*pant**pant*

*pant**pant*

"I...*pant*... I don't think I'll....be able to cross bridge for sometime..."

Li Lin also joined ...

"....yeah....*pant*... me too....*pant*.."

and with that we finally decided to take some rest....

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After half an hour of resting, we both moved forward again...

As we moved forward.... I could tell that we were already there!!

"just a little more distance!!!!"

As I said this, I heard Li Lin.

"do you think that thing is still behind us?"

and I replied.

"I don't know....but I don't think that Golem can break that giant door and even if it does...the bridge has already been collapsed ... I Just hope that the walls aren't connected cause if that's true....that thing might come right behind us through walls..."

but she didn't look much reassured....

"wow..... really assuring.."

' don't worry girl...you might not have known but I saw that thing trying to break the gate but falling back like a fat panda and I even had a good laugh about it.'

After a little walk, we finally stopped in front of another giant gate....and on it's left there was another lever..

Without wasting a second, Li Lin moved towards that lever and pulled it.

"WAIT!! IT MIGHT BE A-"

soon the giant door opened.

".....trap?"

Just as I finished my sentence, she turned around and looked at me with the most smug smile...

"you were saying something ~"

"...no I-"

but before I could finish my sentence..

<HOST!!! WATCH OUT!!!>

*WHACK!!!!*

I felt something hitting me really hard..

"XIN!!!!"

and right after Li Lin screamed at me, I heard a really familiar sound..

*ROAAAAAR!!!!!*

I then looked at the corner...only to notice that there was a big hole in the wall.

' FUCK!!! I KNEW THE WALLS WERE CONNECTED!!!'

Soon, I crashed through the wall behind me.

*CRASH!!!*

Luckily, I didn't lose consciousness....but... even though I didn't lost consciousness, it didn't mean I was unscathed.....

<HOST!!! YOU'RE BODY HAS TAKEN A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DAMAGE!!!>

As system said this, I noticed Li Lin moved by my side in a swift movement and helped me stood up as she whispered in my ear.

"Xin!!! I have a plan!!"

"what?"

Even though she was whispering right in my ear.... I couldn't hear her clearly due to the impact...

' damn it!!! I had gotten hit several times!!! but how come I was this injured with just a little impact!!!'

I could feel my blood rushing..

As I was confused about my situation, Li Lin once again repeated her plan.

" XIN!! CAN YOU HEAR ME!!! I'M SAYING THAT I WILL DISTRACT THAT THING AND WHILE I DO THAT!! YOU MUST ESCAPE!! AND WHILE YOU ARE ESCAPING, PULL THE LEVER BACK AND THEN I WILL FOLLOW YOU AS THE DOOR IS SHUTTING DOWN!!! "

This time, I heard it clearly.....but it didn't make sense....why is she ready to sacrifice herself to save me.....is it because of the protagonist's charm..

' hehe..... it's not really a bad plan...with this... I might survive..... I'm sorry Li Lin, I know I shouldn't be agreeing with this plan but I really don't plan on dying right now...'

" come on Xin!!! MOVE!!!"

As she said this... I noticed a sense of urgency in her eyes....it feels like she really don't want me dying right now....but this scenario really reminds me of that time in the novel..

that time when Ran almost got killed by Chen...at that time, she was ready to sacrifice herself just to save him....and now she's ready to sacrifice herself to save me.....

"XIN!!! HURRY!!"

I really want to agree to her plan...but why can't I...maybe because there's a chance that she might get injured!!! but.....so what?

' it's not like I care...'

Is it because of the Zhong family.....

'....but it's not like they actually care about her..'

then why???? if it's not because I care about her or because I'm afraid of her family then why??? but soon I realised the answer for this "why"???

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' it's because she's Zhong Li Lin.... that's why..'

-to be continued