The party appeared together in a burst of particle effects as they entered the Phantom’s Gold Mine, bracing themselves on entry for whatever lay inside while they waited for their senses to adjust to the new space.

“It’s… different than I expected it to be. Aren’t dungeons supposed to be flashier?”

“Y-Yeah, it just seems like more of the same from outside.”

Whereas the first dungeon had opened with a grand main chamber and countless branching paths, this second dungeon they’d just set foot into began with a single cramped, long passageway. Wooden support arches were evenly spaced as far as they could see, most of them drooping and cracked from years of disrepair as they struggled to hold the roof up above them.

“First one was definitely nicer looking than this, right Silk?”

“Chkchk chk!”

“It was a little messy I guess, sure. It could have been fancy if it was clean though.”

“Chhhk… chkchk.”

“It wasn’t that bad, c’mon.”

“…do you just speak spider or something?”

“Wait, do you not?”

“No, I… let’s just go already…”

“…chk?”

They took their first steps in, the pair of spiders a bit confused but following in behind the sturdier pair.

The tunnels here were much more narrow than the ones leading in had been, the other three having to fall in behind Elise as her shields took up most of the width of the passageway, having to duck slightly just to not hit her head on the wooden braces.

It stretched on and on and on, seemingly without end, eventually losing sight of the entrance as they kept pushing forward cautiously, eerie silence filling the tunnel.

No noises other than breathing and footsteps for minutes on end, no landmarks for them to gauge distance from, forced to simply continue on forward as they waited for… anything at all to confront them.

“A-Are we missing something…? Or is it s-supposed to be this long?”

“I’ve been using Study on the beams and walls every now and then, there’s been nothing but rock and wood the whole way so far.”

More progress, more walking, more grumbling as frustration crept in, the mineshaft stubbornly refusing to reveal what it wanted from the adventurers.

Tap, tap, clank, clank.

Tap, tap, clank, clank.

Tap, tap, clank, clank.

Alone with their footsteps, pushing onwards, silent and solemn as they waited.

“…okay, I’ve seen this beam before.”

“Moni, they all look the same.”

“No, this one is cracked differently, look!”

“M-Maybe it’s just old? Most of them are cracked or broken-”

“Just stay here, okay? Lemme try something.”

“Sure, I could use a break anyways.”

Prim, Elise, and Silk took the opportunity to have a seat on the cool stone, leaning against either side of the mineshaft as they caught their breath.

“Be right back!”

“Wait, where are you going- hey, come back…!”

The crafter called after her as the fox turned on her heel and began running back towards where they’d come from again, leaving them to watch her fade into the dark passageway as she got further away.

“…aaaand she’s gone.”

“S-She said she’d be back, I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I guess she doesn’t seem like the type to just ditch us.”

“Right! Moni’s a good person, r-right Silk?”

“Chhhk… chk.”

Silk shrugged noncommittally, the constant endangerment, battle scars, psychological trauma, and still-healing burn scars making them at least a bit hesitant to agree with her assessment.

“…s-see, they agree!”

Both the halfling and spider stared at her blankly, renewedly assured that only one person amongst their party was fluent in spider speech.

Monica glanced behind her as she ran back towards the entrance to the dungeon, her companions soon blinking out into the darkness as kept her eyes fixed for anything they’d missed on the first pass.

Everything looked the same, the same rocky facade stretching on and on and on, never changing no matter how much she scrutinized it. Frustration drove her feet faster, a light jog soon breaking into a furious sprint, panting as she tried to reach the entrance again and restart her search.

Her eyes were locked to the sides of the tunnel, paying no mind to anything else as she did her best to keep her mind on the task at hand. She was, more so than ever, completely and utterly focused.

So focused, in fact, that she had no way of seeing a conveniently place roadblock lying underfoot, kicking against something hard and heavy as her momentum launched her over top of it, swearing like a sailor as she flew through the air with several decidedly crushed toes.

“Son of a-”

“E-Eh?!”

“Gah…!”

The airborne fox sailed overhead, coming down hard as she crashed into the obstacle in question, scrambling for her staff as she prepared for an actual fight.

“Nnn… Hazard Fu- eh?”

It was hard to see what exactly she’d tripped on as she struggled to right herself once more, flailing as she stumbled upright again to prepare for what must have been an enemy encounter-

-only to be greeted by a startled Berserker and Vanguard, and a rather abnormally large shield sitting on the floor unattended.

“…huh?”

“Geez, be careful if you’re just gonna run back like that, we were trying to talk…”

“Wait, why did I-”

“D-Did you at least find anything?”

“No, I… how did you both get ahead of me?”

“What are you talking about…? We haven’t moved, you’re the one that told us to stay here.”

“…I’ll be back, again!”

“Hey, you only just- she’s gone already…”

Monica turned heel once more, sprinting even faster this time, eyes fixed dead ahead as she made the second solo trip.

“Ah, you’re back again- wait, how did…?”

“Oh that’s… hmm.”

“W-Wait, but you went…”

Sure enough, Monica had quickly returned to her party.

Only… from the wrong side of the tunnel.

“Ooh, I get it now…”

“Get what exactly?”

“Well, we’ve been walking a long while, right?”

“Yeah, i-it felt like half a mile at least…”

“Not even close! Frankly this might be the same place we spawned in, even.”

“Eh…? But there’s no door-”

“We teleported in and there was no door behind us then, right?”

“…I didn’t actually look…”

“M-Me either…”

“That makes three of us then! But there probably wasn’t! Because this whole tunnel is just one huge loop!”

The others paused, processing.

“…but it’s… it’s a perfectly straight path.”

“And? This is a videogame, it doesn’t need to make sense spatially.”

“I guess so? But… hm.”

“D-Does that mean we’re stuck here then?! There’s no e-exit, and if it just goes on and on f-forever…!”

Elise was already starting to panic, no longer seated as she paced nervously around the cramped space, Prim and Silk both doing their best to not be trampled by frantic armored legs.

“No no, they wouldn’t make a dungeon that can’t be completed. It’s some kind of puzzle, if I had to guess.

“A p-puzzle…?”

“Yeah, there’ll be a loose rock or secret switch somewhere that’ll open a door somewhere along the tunnel probably.”

“So we just gotta scour the entire tunnel again from the start?”

“That’s gonna take ages… I already didn’t find anything after god knows how many laps we’ve made by now.”

“…we could… streamline the process somewhat.”

“That sounds like something I should be saying before trying something stupid.”

“What I have in mind is definitely something stupid you’d try, yes.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you from following in my illustrious footsteps then!~”

“Elise, a little help here?”

“Oh, sure, y-yeah!”

The four of them quickly gathered up the pair of greatshields still waiting unattended on the floor of the passage, propping them up against the wall at an angle. At Prim’s request, they all crawled in behind them one by one, cramped and squeezed into the smaller-than-expected space without an inch to spare.

“I’m… not sure how this helps us find anything at all.”

Prim herself had yet to join them in the hastily-made shield bunker, instead rummaging through their bags for something.

“Oh, those aren’t for finding anything, don’t worry.”

“Then what are they-”

She finally dug out what she’d been looking for in her inventory, proudly presenting her “idea” to the others as they peeked out from behind the metal slabs.

Two, matching, Prim-sized spheres, thin paper wrapping over masses of dark stone and volatile explosive powder.

“These are!”

They required no further explanation of her plan at all, instantly vanishing back behind their makeshift blast shelter, the crafter hurling a bomb in either direction before diving in with them.

“FIRE IN THE H-”

She didn’t even get the time to finish, the dark cave lighting up painfully bright as twin explosions went off at once, looping back on themselves as the mineshaft was forcibly blast-mined.