*>Inventory:*

*>Mana Crystal: 5*

*>Rudimentary Stamina Potion: 50*

*...*

 

*A nice haul.*

Her inventory was loaded, but the journey wasn't over yet. The trap was simply a diversion.

The task of ascending the freshly carved tunnel faced her.

She clasped a mana crystal in her right hand and allowed its luminous blue radiance to permeate her surroundings.

The blue glitter smothered the light-gray walls.

The soft light from her hand reflected across every single grain of pulverized crystal.

*Sparkly...*

It was like the interior of a geode.

Countless ephemeral points of light dotted her vision.

Jisha brushed her finger along the surface of the wall.

A handful of shiny flakes drifted away and dissolved into thin air.

*That's a shame...*

Who knew how many mana crystals' worth of mana was still residing within these flakes? Unfortunately, there was no way to harvest it.

She reluctantly moved forwards.

The tunnel gently sloped upwards. The floor, walls, and ceiling were mercilessly jagged. Spiky rock formations scattered here and there, and it would have been instant death if she tripped and fell on the worst of them.

However, it could all be avoided with rudimentary foresight. As the saying goes, all you have to do is "watch your step"...

It was a leisurely journey and the most beautiful scenery she'd seen in this life.

*The landscape in the beginning was rather monotonous if I remember correctly, so I'm lucky again, aren't I?*

The further she progressed, the more the tunnel's slope increased in severity. At first, it was like walking up a small hill. Now, it was like hiking up a mountain. At the end, it was almost vertical.

*Some basic rock climbing... A pretty good way to acclimate.*

Jisha still wasn't completely attuned with her new body, and pushing the limits and experimenting with variety was the perfect way to accomplish this goal.

*Now, where to start?*

The cave, though sparkly, was still rather dim overall. The singular mana crystal was not the most potent source of light, after all. Echolocation wasn't useful here, either, as she needed to find extremely specific holds to climb.

In this situation, her best way forwards was to sense the environment with her entire body.

She shifted her consciousness towards the bottom of her feet.

*Foothold... Here.*

Then, to her fingertips.

*Handhold... Here.*

She lifted herself off the ground, and, with some trial and error, carefully identified subsequent holds.

*Haah, not bad.*

At the top, she looked back down to drink in the shimmering sights one last time before continuing down the main path.

 

---

 

"... and then she yelled at this guy that everyone hated and then we went outside and then we found some weird purple fog place and then-"

"Okay, slow down," Stein said.

"Is... the hassle worth it for this kid?" Quaterniana asked.

"If he's who he says he is in VMA, then yes," Cargo Biscuit responded.

The kid they'd coaxed with real cash and a potential girlfriend was spitting out words faster than any of them could understand. Cargo Biscuit claimed Castle was a skilled Virtual Martial Arts player, but the rest of Asunder wasn't convinced.

"Surely he's not gullible enough to think he'll actually get a girlfriend?"

"What- I mean, I only want the cash, yeah. Of course I knew that!"

Several clan members groaned.

"I can confirm her martial arts are on another level," Brookie said.

"We already know *that* much... You weren't able to get anything from the auction, were you?" Quaterniana asked.

"Not directly, no..."

"Ugh, why was the musclehead sent to the one place that needs brains?" someone complained.

"Shut it. That Loser guy was a coward who always hid behind his lackeys and I couldn't get to him," Brookie snapped. "Besides, it's not like me an' the kid got nothing. She left some stuff for us in some warehouse-lookin' thing."

"Alright, we're getting off track," Stein said. "Let's keep moving."

Stein and Asunder had convened with Brookie and Castle as they'd continued searching for the level 15 dungeon. Unfortunately, it had moved to a different location.

"If there's any one thing that's different from the beta, it had to be this..."

"You all need this big a group?" Brookie asked.

"The more the merrier, isn't it?" Quaterniana responded.

"... How many of us can enter that dungeon anyway?"

"Maximum party size is 5, but you never know what we could run into," Stein said.

This cave dungeon was one of the first ones players would run into after spawning in a nearby Starter. Leveling speed and scouting was paramount in order to conquer the first clear.

It was such a hotly contested area, so altercations with other players could arise especially since this dungeon only allowed one party at a time. If Asunder were early enough, they'd be blessed with a free entry. However, dillydallying would only lead to a higher chance of conflict with randoms.

"Let's talk as we move. Mana palm strike-!"

"Wha-?"

"*Sigh* don't worry... being like that all day..." Quaterniana half-heartedly mumbled to a bewildered Castle.

"I'm just practicing my skills," Stein said wryly. "Watching her battle footage taught me a couple things. You watched her fight, too, so you should understand."

"Ah, um... yeah..."

"Anyway, tell us what happened at the auction in detail, you two."

...

"Hm..."

The more Stein heard about her, the more problematic she became. Not only was she extremely skilled in combat, but she was also crafty and manipulative. Benevolent towards allies, ruthless towards enemies. Was it a stroke of fortune or misfortune that they were hearing about such a person so early on?

"Hopefully we can get her on our side."

"No kidding..."

*>Arcadia Black: Commander."

"Everyone, halt," Stein commanded.

The well-trained unit immediately obeyed.

*>Stein: Come tell us in person.*

Their massive group had been split into two, but they weren't so far apart that they'd lose each other.

Arcadia Black sprang out of nearby weeds.

"The cave has been located, but..." Arcadia Black hesitated.

"That's great news. What's wrong?"

"Commander, this... it should be seen by you."

Asunder looked at the messenger quizzically, but, without further explanation, he turned and briskly headed back where he came from. Unable to resist, the rest of the group followed.

One dense patch of woodland later, they encountered a small clearing. It was teeming with tall green grass, and vines as thick as forearms snaked along the ground. At the other edge of the clearing was a wall of thin vines draped over what appeared to be a large stone.

"Are you sure that's it?" Stein asked.

"Yes, certainly."

It was odd. Though it looked exactly like the dungeon entrance from the beta, there was a key difference.

"Where's the mist?"

Everyone knew that white particles danced around the entrance to all dungeons. However, there was one known exception.

*It can't be, right?*

Everyone was thinking it, but no one wanted to say it out loud.

Stein walked up to the wall of vines and brushed them aside. A grotto lay behind. It was small enough to be observed entirely with a single glance. In other words, the dungeon currently did not exist.

As far as Stein knew, there was only one way this was possible.

*Who got here before us?*

Asunder had definitely leveled up as fast as possible. Stein was confident that they were the highest-level party of over 5 players.

*Unless someone challenged it with only two or three players?*

Before he could think further, the white mist suddenly reappeared, and he received a DM he never considered to be possible.

*>Arcadia Black: Commander! Oyaan got one-shot.*

*>Stein: Take cover and regroup.*

Apparently, there was a party that was capable of taking out a member of Asunder... in a single move.

Whoever had just come out of the dungeon was a force to be reckoned with.

 

---

 

*Hm... Nope, I don't remember any of this.*

Though she didn't want to believe it, Jisha's memory of the early game was quite poor. Only several significant instances stuck out in her mind. This dungeon wasn't the first one she cleared, but she had likely gone back to it at some point. Despite this, nothing here was familiar.

 

*SCREECH*

 

*>+30 Copper*

 

*Seems pretty straightforward so far...*

With the dim mana cube lighting the way, the challenge of the complete darkness had vanished. Echolocation was still on, but its poor quality lost heavily to bonafide light.

Aside from occasional stalagmites and uneven surfaces, nothing had changed.

 

*SCREECH*

*SCREECH*

 

*Looks like they're starting to spawn more often.*

 

*>+30 Copper*

*>+30 Copper*

 

*That's fantastic. More monsters just means more goodies for me!*

Twofold... Threefold... Fourfold...

The number of bat monsters, as well as variety, multiplied.

Most of them simply charged, but some did have sound-based attacks, and some of them even fired air blades.

Of course, the sound-based attacks didn't actually travel at the speed of sound, and all ranged attacks came with distinct indicators.

Regardless, no matter what kind of bat monster came up, they were all equal in front of the mighty Golden Sling and Oaken Dagger.

Monsters' variety in Synergy was endless, but they were all the same in the end - they became XP.

After several more minutes and tens more dead monsters later, the density finally waned.

The cave tunnel widened to reveal a small ravine, and at the other end was a door.

*Boss room?*

The door was different from the strange lab from before. Its composition of eroded carved stone fit the theme of the dungeon much better.

The bottom of the chasm was too deep to see with the poor lighting, but several pillars in the middle conveniently constructed a parkour path across.

A hop, skip, and jump later, she was at the boss room's door.

After confirming no more traps or monsters were in the area, she pushed the door open.

The other side of the door was completely dark, but Jisha pressed forwards.

The door slammed behind her and several torches lining the walls lit up one by one.

This place looked somewhat like a throne room in a castle, but it lacked any regality and was rather torn-down. It didn't even have a throne, for that matter.

Attacks could come from anywhere, but the main subject of this room was a large totem in the rear-center. It was a stone cylinder split evenly into five chunks, and each chunk sported unique engravings and designs.

The bottom had engravings of shrubbery, then flowers, then birds, then clouds, and finally on top, was an uncouth tiki-like face.

 

*>Name: Totem of Truth*

*>Description: A fragment of the monolithic.*

*>HP: 1000*

...

 

The moment she laid eyes on the pillar, a pellet had already taken flight.

 

*-75*

 

The totem's eyes lit up and all of the segments whirred to life.

The bottom one, which depicted vines, continued speeding up. The low-pitched grinding of stone on stone rose an octave above the rest of the segments, producing an eerie harmony.

 

*-71*

 

Jisha fired her sling as fast as the cooldown would let her. If it was going to let her get free shots on it as it charged up its attacks, she would gladly seize the opportunity.

The bottom segment's engravings glowed green, gradually growing brighter and brighter. The engravings that inhabited a two-dimensional surface materialized into the third, and several whip-like entities rushed towards her.

*Let's see if this works...*

Jisha pulled out the dagger and sliced as the whips cracked down.

 

*-38*

 

*Hm...*

The dagger made the totem boss hesitate to attack again, but the damage wasn't nearly as high.

 

*-83*

*-69*

*-33*

...

 

*This dungeon is clearly not meant to be done alone.*

Her slow body could not dodge all of the vines' attacks and simultaneously fire ammo at the totem, so she was forced to use the dagger to keep them at bay.

She cracked a grin.

Though it was a melee weapon, she was already deathly bored of using a single weapon in combat. Having more options felt like escaping handcuffs... very little was as relieving as freedom.

After she dumped some more ammo at the ornery stone slab, the bottom segment showed signs of damage. With several more attacks, cracks spread throughout the vine-engraved stone, and intense green light seeped through.

 

*CRUMBLE*

 

The bottom of the totem collapsed into rubble, revealing an axle that supported the rest of the totem.

The next segment of the totem revved up.

*Five phases... what a pain.*

The flowers lit up pink, and the totem emitted rays of pink gas.

*Don't wanna learn what that does.*

She did not want to be reminded of the Corrupted Air from earlier.

*No way a beginner can dodge all of this... This stuff's probably supposed to be dissipated with area-of-effect magic attacks.*

Jisha sighed as she longed for any ranged weapon capable of dealing more than just physical damage.

 

*-88*

*-79*

*-90*

...

 

The flowers crumbled, and after a blinding flash of pink light, the second phase was complete.

The third totem segment roared to life.

The bird engravings on the third segment shone light gray, and the shell of the totem slid open to reveal a legion of undead creatures that took to the skies.

 

*-272*

*-259*

*-277*

...

 

Though these birds had almost negative resistance, there were quite a lot of them.

*Yeah, you don't have to remind me that this would be easier with a party...*

No matter how skilled Jisha was at firing her weapon, she was only as good as her weapon allowed her to be. The Golden Sling's attack speed was too slow to effectively clear the creatures out of the air.

*Hopefully I don't need to kill all of them?*

Her theory was soon proven correct.

In between shooting down and dodging the birds, she continued firing pellets at the totem. Eventually, the bird-engraved stone disintegrated and the fourth stage began.

The clouds shone white and miscellaneous gusts of wind battered the innards of the room.

*...*

This was by far the most annoying thing yet, and it wasn't the attacks that were the problem. The attacks were actually the easiest thing to deal with, as they were similar to the air blade attacks from the bat monsters earlier.

The thing was...

Jisha aimed and fired at a bird in the distance... and missed.

*Tch...*

The gusts of wind blew the pellets off course... and the worst part was that there was no way to read the wind currents at a distance. Of course, she knew which way the wind was blowing in her immediate vicinity, but the air inside had turned so schizophrenic that every pocket of air in the room was blowing in a different direction.

Fortunately, the bird-like things weren't having a great time, either.

Jisha stuck to shooting nearby birds and continued whittling down the totem boss.

Just as cracks started to appear on the second-to-last piece of stone, she shifted her attention to the rest of the birds. There had been so many in the air that there were still a couple left even after shooting at them all this time.

It was better to get rid of the riff raff before facing the final challenge.

She shot down the final bird and shattered the cloud-engraved stone.

The gusts of wind died down and the throne-like room was deathly silent.

Jisha and the Tiki face stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity.

Nothing happened.

*If you won't attack, I will.*

She loaded her sling and fired the first shot of the final phase. This was the last trial.

She prepared for the boss to activate itself, and...

 

*-1*

 

The final slab of the totem crumbled into white mist.

*What? Is that it?*

There was no completion message, but there was nowhere else to go. All of the monsters were slain, too.

Jisha scoured the room for any signs of life or anything else interesting.

A prismarine walkway ran through the center of the room. Three massive pillars several metron in diameter stood on each side supporting the over 100-metron-tall ceiling. Other than the apparent age of the cracked infrastructure, there was nothing of note.

Until...

*Is that something?*

In the rear-center of the room, where the head of the totem had been, a miniscule black object floated in place.

Intrigued, she walked up to it. Surely, by walking closer to it, the details of the object would become more apparent. However, the black object remained darker than night, unwilling to reveal anything about itself.

Finally, when it was floating within an arm's reach, Jisha appraised it.

 

*>Name: Reminiscia*

 

*... What? That's it?*

The object only had a name.

There was no other item in Synergy like this.

All objects had at least a name and description, and if either or both were hidden, you would receive some sort of feedback. For example, if an object's description was obscured, it would read as a scrambled mess, in faded text, or something along those lines. If it wasn't appraisable at all, the system would tell you.

However, none of the above applied to this mysterious black object. It was darker than Vantablack, and it almost sucked in the surrounding light as well.

Before snatching it out of the air, though, Jisha inspected the rest of the room again. When she found nothing else of note, she returned to the black-hole-like object and grasped it with her thumb and index finger.

 

*>System message: Level up!*

*>System message: Level up!*

 *>System announcement: A system update has been scheduled. The servers will shut down for maintenance in 10 natural minutes. Please save your progress and log out in a safe area. Servers will resume operation at midnight.*

 

*What...?*

One surprise after another. Of course, she'd expected *something* to happen, but something *this* dramatic was completely out of left field.

*Just after thinking I wouldn't find anything new or exciting in Synergy again... is the system mocking me?*

After the system announcement repeated two more times, clouds of dust fluttered down around her.

*Ah, now *this* is something that should be happening!*

The entire cavern delicately trembled. The rumbling grew louder and louder, and more and more debris fell from the ceiling as a result.

Jisha wasted no time - she'd already booked it out the door that had reopened after the boss fight.

Just as she turned her head around to look back, large chunks of marble crashed down from the ceiling razing what little regality was left. Within seconds, the doorway into the room caved in.

There was no point looking back anymore. Mana crystal in hand and echolocation... existing, Jisha sprinted upslope as fast as her legs would allow. With no more monsters in the way, there was enough time to focus on finding stable footing on the uneven ground.

This was the final calibration she needed to become completely adjusted to her new body, and the further she ran and jumped, the more "right" her existence felt. Her arms, legs, and other body parts moved exactly how she expected them to. It may not seem like much, but the closest analogy was perpetual dizziness - a state where all movements are just slightly off.

By the time she reached the cave's exit, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She looked at her palms and formed tiny, confident fists.

*Becoming one with existence is a truly beautiful feeling.*

The curtain of mist obscured the inside of the cave from the outside, and as Jisha passed through this white portal, the mainland appeared on the other side once more.

 

*>System message: Dungeon complete!*

 

She wanted to glimpse at her rewards, but exiting a dungeon was among the most dangerous moments in the game. As a safety measure, the dungeon almost never spit players back out at the entrance from which they came, as countless parties could be camping just outside to ambush the exhausted dungeoneers. However, this didn't mean spawn points outside dungeons were 100% safe.

This time, her alertness paid off.

*Two voices to the left...*

... and they weren't far.

She took several steps and looked past a boulder that obscured her vision.

"Ah."

They made eye contact at the same time.

*Should I talk to them?*

They weren't names she recognized. There wasn't really any point killing randoms in the wild as the system would punish you by detracting Karma. However, there were exceptions.

"Mana Shot...!"

"..."

A condensed blue ball flew inches by her right ear.

*Well, now it's a simple choice!*

Even though her Karma would drop, she wasn't going to allow those who attacked her to get away.

 

*-136*

 

This player was clearly wearing different clothes from default that likely boosted his defense. However, a critical strike to the eyes almost completely bypassed it.

Realizing she was outmatched, the remaining player turned tail and ran. However...

 

*-66*

*-57*

 

Two more shots was all it took to evaporate her.

*Eh, not bad.*

She had to give credit where credit was due. They'd attacked her due to their numbers advantage, but after realizing a Neophyte Mage couldn't beat a Slingshot at range... especially if the Slingshot's accuracy was 100%... the remaining player retreated.

Though it seemed obvious, there was no shortage of overconfident fools. She would hold nothing but mockery in her heart for said fools that charged headstrong towards their deaths.

With a sigh, Jisha pulled the Reminiscia from her inventory and stared deeply... it had a strong soul-sucking allure.

The nature-defying darkness was unsettling.

*...*

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to ponder its mysteries.

Footsteps were in the area again, and this time, there were far more than 2 of them.