Elena stepped through the portal as usual. A flash of light blinded her eyes, followed by a wave of dizziness.
She opened her eyes.
Nothing. The darkness around her was so dense that even with her superhuman senses, she could neither see nor feel anything.
— This isn't space, right?
Her brain didn't have time to process the question. Another flash followed—far brighter this time—cutting across her vision. The dizziness returned, stronger than before.
Elena opened her eyes again.
A completely white space.
Like an experienced hunter, she immediately released her energy to survey the surroundings.
To her surprise, there were no gates anywhere.
— What the hell?
A whistle of wind echoed through the sterile silence. Then the world began to crumble. The white space shattered into fragments, revealing a sky covered in clouds.
Before Elena could fully register it, the white space vanished—and she began to fall.
Without panicking, she activated her movement skill and reappeared right above the treetops.
She was about to activate it a second time in succession, but her body suddenly convulsed. Her head felt like it exploded from the inside.
She blacked out.
Elena's unconscious body rapidly fell downward.
***
When I came to, my body was hanging from the branch of a massive tree. My head was splitting, and blood was dripping from my nose.
While I was trying to understand what position I was in, a cracking sound came from above—along with the noise of something crawling.
I turned my head.
First of all, my body was being held on the branch by a school blazer (?), and my hands were tied behind my back. But this wasn't the time to think about that.
Second, a huge, fat snake was crawling toward me. The thing was so massive it could have swallowed an elephant whole.
Without hesitation, I immediately activated my defensive barrier—my secondary skill. Nothing happened. Except for the realization that I couldn't feel mana at all. Not inside me. Not around me.
"Don't come any closer. You disgusting, filthy piece of trash!"
I was hanging at the height of a twelve-story building. The branch that had cushioned my fall began to give way under the weight of the giant reptile.
Crack.
The branch snapped. We plunged downward.
Luckily for me, the snake managed to coil around the tree trunk, and several tons of flesh were not about to crush me.
Unfortunately, I, my blazer (?), and the branch were still falling.
I got lucky. The branch acted like an anchor, getting stuck in the dense crowns of smaller trees. I struggled against the bindings and the clothes, feeling like a chunk of meat skewered on a spit.
With some difficulty, I stopped being a hostage to my own clothing and, after a struggle, almost climbed down from the tree.
It turned out my body was not only deprived of magical power, but also of my S-rank status altogether. Judging by how winded I was just from climbing down, I was now only slightly stronger than an ordinary girl.
What rotten luck.
— Is everyone in the group in the same situation?
I carefully jumped down to the ground. My hands were still tied behind my back, which made it hard to keep my balance.
It was dark around me. While I'd been hanging above, it seemed like dawn was breaking—but down here, beneath the forest canopy, it was gloomy and cold.
This dungeon was strange from the very beginning.
My body was shaking. My head was buzzing. I needed to find my group. I crouched down, felt around for a sharp stone, and began rubbing it against the rope on my wrists.
A rustle came from the bushes. I turned around.
My eyes met someone's pupils.
.
.
.
I was sprinting through the forest at the very limit of my strength.
Ducking, falling, rolling across the ground—doing everything I could to avoid getting my head torn off by clawed paws. A pack was chasing me. They weren't mana monsters, but they weren't ordinary wolves either. They were too huge.
One leapt out right in front of me, making a massive jump straight toward me.
Sensing the danger, I kicked off the ground at full speed and ended up airborne. The wolf landed directly beneath me.
While I was still in the air, another beast shot out like an arrow from a large rock to the side.
Its claws ripped into my back before I touched the ground.
It hurt. God, it hurt so much.
I flew past the two massive beasts and dropped to my knees.
I had to run.
The damn rope was in the way, but I managed to get back on my feet and run again. Behind me came the sounds of dogs fighting.
They couldn't decide who got the prey.
My back was burning, but I didn't slow down, racing toward the light beyond the trees.
I heard the sound of water to my left. Maybe there was salvation there. The closer the sound came, the brighter it got.
I was almost there when something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me backward. I slammed my chin into the dirt. My vision went black.
I had to roll onto my torn-up back, scraping it against the ground. It was the only way to shake off the vine that was dragging me straight into the wolves' jaws.
My back screamed as branches scraped against the wound. My legs kicked with all their strength at the stems binding my ankles.
I barely managed to get up when growling surrounded me from all sides.
Precious time wasted because of the fucking plant.
I broke free and jumped to my feet. Too late. Three wolves were already standing in front of me. Two lunged at the same time.
"Fuck this—"
Cursing under my breath, I dropped as low to the ground as I could. Thank God—I managed to dodge the two beasts…!
Aaaaaah!
The sound of tearing flesh drowned in my scream.
The third one. The third wolf. It sank its teeth into my shoulder.
I fell and started crawling backward. The two wolves that had missed attacked the third. The wild beast's blood splashed across my face.
Just a little more. So close.
While the wolves were distracted by the fight, I rolled onto my stomach and crawled forward. Toward the light.
Dirt packed into the wound on my shoulder, but I kept dragging myself forward. The pain slowly dulled, and my vision blurred.
The vine, which had been inactive for a while, tugged me backward again. That snapped me back to reality.
Grrrr…
I resisted and crawled forward. There were more and more predators now. Some lunged at my legs, tangled in the vines.
Then I saw the sun between the trees. Right there. Just a little more.
At that same moment, my ankles were freed. Maybe the wolves had gnawed through the grass that was in their way. I didn't care. I found the strength to stand and run.
My temples were pounding. I could barely see. Only the sound of water guided me forward.
A cliff. Below it—a rocky shore beside a wide river.
I rushed to the edge and started climbing down the earthen wall, but the plants came alive here too.
Branches and stems reached out, grabbing my body.
Crack.
I think I broke a few ribs. For a while, I hung limply in the grip of those green monsters before crashing onto the rocks by the water.
"Damn."
I cursed as I fumbled with my hands. I had to get the ropes off my wrists as fast as possible.