Benny jolted awake from his sleep, drenched in sweat and gasping. The suffocating sensation made him scramble out of the crevice he'd crawled into. Another nightmare had plagued his dreams. He frantically checked himself to make sure he was alive—tapping his body, feeling his face, confirming he was still breathing. Whatever it was that made him tremble with fear even in his sleep, he wanted no part of it.
After confirming he was still among the living, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He grabbed the water pouch he'd filled hours ago and drank its contents. It had been so long since he'd seen the sun that his natural sleep schedule was completely broken.
"Enough of that—it'll just make me more depressed," he muttered. "Now I need to find a way to get food."
He was sure other adventurers who'd pioneered different labyrinths had faced this same scenario, right? They'd found ways to survive off their environment. But how could he get light to venture outside the sanctuary? Beyond these walls lay only darkness—an abyss that seemed to stare right back at you.
He shuddered at the thought. This whole floor had to be safe, right? He hadn't fought anything for a while now.
With that reassuring thought, and his emotional state somewhat stabilized, he began thinking more clearly. At least there was nothing down here to distract him from planning.
First things first: what exactly did he have that he could use to hunt and survive?
He pulled over the leather backpack his teammates had given him before his escape. Benny unpacked its contents on the floor and arranged everything in order.
There was rope, a pickaxe, a shovel, a wood saw, a sharpening tool, a few sets of clothing he could change into, several magical scrolls (though he had no idea how to use them), and a torch. "Fuck, why haven't I opened this bag before?" But it wasn't a simple torch—it required mana to activate, and honestly, he probably had the shittiest amount of mana for a human being. On top of that, he didn't know how to use it anyway.
He also had flint for starting fires, a first aid kit with bandages, three lesser healing potions he'd been saving for later (his wounds would heal naturally as long as he kept infection away), and food rations. Though they were bland as hell, they were better than nothing, especially paired with his remaining dried meat.
For weapons, he still had his broken sword and a dagger he used both as backup weapon and butchering tool. Then there was the water pouch. That was about everything.
"I guess I could try using the torch, right? How hard could it be to channel mana?"
He tried it, scrunching his face in concentration as he attempted to pour his life and soul into the magical torch. But nothing happened—it didn't even spark. The effort only made him more exhausted, so he gave up. That was his nature, after all.
Now he sprawled on the ground, staring up at the endless darkness of the ceiling.
Then he looked around at everything that looked like stars, especially the crystals embedded in the walls.
Ding! Like a flood of inspiration rushed through him, an idea struck. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Oh right—he'd been fucking cowering in fear.
He approached the nearest wall to pry out the closest crystal. Maybe he could use it to light his way. Though it was dim, it was better than nothing.
Luckily, one of the crystals was within reach.
At first he tried prying it out by hand, but it was firmly embedded and wouldn't budge. Remembering the pickaxe, he went back to where he'd laid out his items.
He picked up the pickaxe and began swinging at the edges around the crystal. Every few swings, he tried prying it loose until it finally came free.
The crystal wasn't huge, but it was awkward to hold with just one hand. Then another brilliant idea came to him—the rope! He could bind the crystal and carry it that way, letting it hang in front of him to illuminate his path.
Fortunately, the crystal didn't shut off even after being removed from the wall.
It was so beautiful that he stared at it for a moment, almost getting lost in its gentle glow and forgetting what he'd set out to do.
Elsewhere in the cave, all that banging noise had alerted one of the monsters that dwelled there. A mutant rat larger than a dog, sensitive to sound since that was how it navigated this space and hunted for food. Its eyes were practically blind—a genetic mutation that helped it adapt to this environment while heightening its other senses like smell and hearing. It began moving toward the sound, hoping for a nice, juicy meal.
Back in the sanctuary, Benny finished securing the crystal with rope. It was tied well enough that he could hang it forward and use it as a guide light.
Now it was time to look for food on this floor. He had no plans of going deeper—that would mean immediate death.
Lost in his wandering thoughts about his temporary reprieve, he'd completely forgotten that making noise would definitely attract the monsters lurking in this place.
He got up and grabbed his broken sword, tucking his backup dagger near his chest. He also refilled his water pouch with fresh water from the pool. Now he was prepared, or so he thought.
Even before he could step back into the darkness, he felt a strange tingling sensation—a warning.
It was his heightened senses from guard training. As soon as he moved forward with the crystal, the monster recoiled as its sensitive eyes were assaulted by the light. Of course—it was a creature of darkness, so that made sense. But it was only a temporary blinding effect. The mutated rat still had its other enhanced senses.
Fear struck Benny's heart as he was startled by the sudden appearance of the creature. Though it kept its distance from the sanctuary's entrance—was it because of the light, or did the sanctuary itself have some protective effect against these monsters?
He drew his broken sword, but the rat was quick and agile. It was hard to track, especially since the darkness swallowed whatever meager light his crystal provided. He could only catch glimpses of its shadow and tail darting around.
"Should I retreat for now?" But while he was momentarily distracted by the thought, the mutated rat lunged at him, sending him flying toward the sanctuary entrance.
He was stunned for a moment, the wind knocked completely out of him. The screeching noise of the monster grew closer and closer. Fear gripped Benny again, his cowardice making him crawl backward while still gasping for air. Before the rat could pounce and pin him down, he scrambled back inside the sanctuary, praying the monster wouldn't follow or he'd be truly fucked.
No longer lying on his stomach, he got a good look at the bastard. It had milky white eyes and massive ears, with long whiskers and an utterly hideous appearance. It was definitely bigger than a dog, with a powerful muscle structure. No wonder it could move like that.
Benny wasn't ready to face it yet—he needed to plan and figure out how to lure this creature into a trap. His hunger-induced madness was returning, and he was determined to kill this fucker and make it his first real meal down here.
But for now, he had to recover from having the wind knocked out of him.