Out

Edward and Andrew stood on the pathway to the next room, studying the two massive slimes. "So two bosses is a common trope in RPG games?" Andrew asked with a folded arm.

"Not really, but I have encountered multiple in my years of playing games," Edward replied, taking in the room's structure. "Killing two bosses at once was always hard. I needed to do it multiple times before learning their pattern..."

"But, now we only have one life." Andrew finished, groaning. "Well, shit."

"First, before we enter, we should see if we can escape," Edward said, turning away from the boss room.

"Escape?" Andrew stopped as surprise crossed his face. "So we are just going to leave them and try to escape."

"Yeah? You don't want that?" Edward asked, looking back at Andrew. "I mean, we could go in and try if you want."

Andrew squinted at Edward, trying to see if that was sarcasm or if he was being serious. Giving up, he sighed. "Fuck. As much as I hate giving up such a valuable source of Exp, I doubt we will be able to kill both of them alone. Seeing how hard it was for us to kill level 3 slimes."

"Oh, okay." Edward nodded, continuing to the second room.

Ignoring the room, they returned to the first room, the room they Noclipped into. The first thing the duo did was check the ceiling they both fell from. Andrew had to carry Edward, who touched to check if there were any holes hidden from sight. There were none.

Next, they both checked the walls and ground, trying to glitch through them and return to the real world, but to no avail. Finding nothing in the first room, they searched the second room.

"Have you found anything?" Andrew asked, with no response. Confused, he looked around, finding an empty cave. "Smith?" He called out, running to the first cave but finding nothing.

Terrified, Andrew sprinted to the boss's room, thinking Edward went to kill the boss alone. After peeking into the room, he saw nothing. Now, he was truly terrified. The silence of the cave was deafening, with strange thoughts running through his mind.

"Smith! Stop playing with me!" Andrew roared in anger, rushing back to the second room.

He looked around once more to find Edward's wooden spear. It was sitting on the floor in the corner wall where all the slimes gathered after they lost all their water/mana.

Confused, Andrew went to pick it up, looking around once more. He jumped, thinking the ground would give in, but nothing. Hearing something behind him, Andrew turned around to find nothing.

The deadly silence caused his mind to start playing tricks on him. Agitated, he slammed into the wall, which suddenly sucked him in. The suddenness made him drop the spear, and he shot through a dark tunnel.

On the other side, Edward opened his eyes to find his face on the sand. Sitting up, he spat out sand, dusting his face from it. Confused at what just happened, he looked around, finding himself back on the surface.

The sky was dark, with stars littering the sky. It was a beautiful sight, something you will never see in the city. The cool wind brushed past him, blowing the grass and tree's leaves.

"I am back to the surface?" Edward mumbled. "How the hell?" He remembered that while searching for a corner, he was suddenly sucked into the wall and appeared here.

Standing up, Edward noticed he was next to the tree he was running to before Noclipeing into the dungeon. He could estimate the spot he steeped in before falling into the dungeon.

The tree trunk suddenly began to ripple like a ripple in the water. Edward squinted his eyes, looking closer. Taking a step back, he kept watching the tree, curious about what would happen.

The ripple on the tree got worse and worse, which caused Edward to take another step back. Andrew was thrown out of the tree at that moment, landing on his face and sliding a few feet forward.

"Huh." Edward let out, looking down at Andrew and then at the tree. "So that is the exit for the dungeon."

Sitting up, Andrew spat out sand, cleaning his face and chest. "I guess." He mumbled, spitting out some more.

Edward looked up at the starry sky, fascinated. "How long were we in that dungeon?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been more than five hours since Andrew went out to fetch Edward, and they both haven't returned. It had since gotten dark, and Elizabeth had already marked them both as MIA. She could care less about their death, but the thought of losing one valuable ally so early angered her.

*Sigh* Elizabeth sighed, leaning back on the tree as she looked upon the night sky. Some feet away from her, a bright orange campfire was burning, illuminating some area around the tree. Hanging from multiple sticks were pieces of the Ostrich Andrew brought back.

With Brody's help and instructions, they managed to pull off the feathers from the big bird, which took more than three hours. Then, the guy with the glasses, Ezekiel, Leonardo, Brody, and Emma, removed all its internal organs with Elizabeth watching from the side.

By the end of that, it was bloody and smelly. With the feathers and internal organs gone, they ripped pieces from the Ostrich like savages before putting those pieces to rest in the campfire. Now 16 pieces of Ostrich meat were roasting, enough to feed the eight of them.

"Well, five, now Edward and that pest are dead," Elizabeth grumbled with another sigh as she folded her arm. "Why did this have to happen?" She ran her hand through her hair, moving it from her face. "Just when everything was moving in the right direction in my life, this fucking shit had to happen..."

"What did you say?" Emma's voice came as she walked up to Elizabeth. Her cloth and hands were covered in dried blood, coupled with the smile on her face made her look like a psychopath.

"Nothing." Elizabeth shook her head.

Emma sighed, sitting beside Elizabeth. "I am worried too. I hope Edward and Andrew are fine and weren't eaten alive by lions."

"I am not worried." Elizabeth chuckled, folding her hand. "And they are probably dead. This place is dangerous. I saw a lioness walking by, stalking us."

"We all saw it." Leonard chimed in, walking up to them with his hands behind his head. "I just hope they both return with water. I don't think I can sleep being this thirsty. I might just die in my sleep."

"That's all you think about? Water?" Emma snapped, glaring at Leonardo. "You are not even worried about them coming back injured!"

"Hey, don't worry." Leonardo smiled, stretching. "They are fine. Trust their ability. They will be back in no time."

"I doubt that," Elizabeth mumbled, earning a stare from Emma and Leonardo. "What? I am just stating facts." She shrugged, "Besides. If they did manage to bring back water still alive, we wouldn't be able to drink it."

"Right..." Emma mumbled. "We have to fucking purify it."

"By the way. How will they even bring back the water?" Ezekiel asked, strolling up to them. "Do they have some magical bag that can store 30 pounds of items with them?"

"Kuku." The guy with the glasses chuckled from the tree where he sat on a sturdy branch. "You will be surprised what a protagonist could find."

Suddenly, they heard something moving in the distance not illuminated by the campfire, causing the five of them to immediately get on their feet, ready to battle their attacker. After a few seconds of silence, Andrew and Edward both walked out of the shadow, with Andrew carrying two Ostrich while Edward dragged two.