Nox was falling again. This seemed to happen a lot recently, to the point that the feeling of being surrounded by darkness was growing oddly familiar. It was endless, the feeling of wind rushing past his body.
After what felt like a long, long time, Nox finally landed on the ground. Thanks to his enhanced body, he wasn't squashed flat from the fall. Nox sat up, peering into the darkness.
It was something he noticed before- his senses were heightened, to the point where he could just barely make his way around the dark tunnel. His sense of smell, hearing- all of these were more sensitive after coming in contact with the smell of those dead bodies.
Not only that, after the status window appeared, his ability was strengthened as well. More solid. Before, he could feel with certainty that he could only use the amount of blood that spilled from him, and not a drop more. But now, he could use more than the initial amount. Nox looked at his magic levels. Maybe this was the reason why?
The ground under his fingers crumbled, his nose telling him it was just plain dirt. Standing up unsteadily, his head hit the low ceiling with a dull thud. Hissing as a cloud of dirt rained down, Nox wandered around half blind for a minute before finally getting rid of the specks of dirt in his eyes.
Regaining his sight, Nox opened his status window. Because of the emergency situation before, he put a good number of points into his magic.
His magic power was now at level 5, but his ability was still at level 3. Keen Intuition had upgraded to level 2 through the commotion. It seemed like the only way to level up skills and abilities was by using them.
Wandering down the sloping tunnel, Nox recalled what had occurred before he suddenly fell down here. The cool, monotone voice said something about 'safety zones.' It was just his bad luck that he was cut off at the entrance by the barrier.
Lost in thought, Nox ran straight into a wooden door. It was obscured due to the nonexistent lighting, merging into the dirt wall. "Ow." He said it more out of reflex, since the small collision didn't actually hurt. The tunnel had led him to a small wooden door with black metal wrapping around the edges. Two iron rings adorned the front.
… He had a bad feeling about this trial already. Sighing, Nox studied the door for any traps. Keen Intuition didn't trigger, but it was always better to double check. He threw a handful of dirt onto the door, relaxing when it didn't respond.
Taking in a breath, Nox grasped the iron ring and pulled. And pulled. Confused, he stared at the door refusing to budge. "Is it broken?" he muttered, tugging with all his strength. When it still didn't move, he added some points into his strength and yanked on the handle again. His level 4 strength stared back at him sadly.
"Uh… dude, what are you doing?" Someone shone a light on Nox.
Spurred by his fight or flight instincts, Nox slammed the stranger against the dirt wall, causing more dust to crash down. His ability floated near the surface, ready to strike if something was amiss.
Why didn't Keen Intuition sense this guy?
"Woah, woah! Peace, I come in peace! This is so fucked up, co- Nox?"
They stared at each other incredulously.
Nox took in the dyed light brown hair, permed hair styled in a trendy fashion; his small nose and those usually narrow eyes wide in surprise. His mouth was hanging open unattractively, both hands in the air.
"Li Zemin, you shit," Nox cursed, releasing his grip on the shorter man.
Li Zemin backed off the wall, brushing off the dirt coating his stylish outfit. "That's what I should be saying, who the fuck jumps people like that?" he demanded, smacking Nox on his head.
Nox threw off his hand, rolling his eyes. "You showed up out of nowhere! And where did you get that flashlight?"
The quivering flashlight shone pitifully, lighting up their dark surroundings.
"Didn't you text all that about trials? You know I'm afraid of the dark, so I decided to purchase a flashlight for emergencies," Li Zemin said proudly.
"..." Nox couldn't refute anything. Pinching his nose, Nox let out a long sigh. "How did you appear here? I thought you were back in B City visiting your family." He ignored the small tug in his chest as he said those words.
Li Zemin shrugged. "You saw the news, right? The whole world is in total chaos. There are reports of house sized insects and giant man-eating plants outside. I think there was even a report of two meter tall penguins escaping the zoo overseas."
Frowning, Nox asked, "You could turn on the TV?"
"Yeah? I mean, the electricity worked fine, and we have a backup generator at my house anyway," Li Zemin answered in confusion.
The rich lived in a different world, as expected. For some reason, an image of Li Zemin throwing cash at a monster surfaced in his mind.
'...I can't tell if I'm hopeless or he's hopeless.'
"We didn't have electricity," Nox explained, deciding to ignore that trail of thought. "No signal either." It was probably thanks to that gray haired woman bombing half the city.
Li Zemin let out an 'oh', walking up next to him. "Well, I didn't make it into a safety zone. One second I can't go into my house, and then the next thing I know I'm in a dirt tunnel talking to you. By the way, were you trying to open this door earlier? You looked really funny trying to pull it open."
"... Shut up," Nox gritted his teeth, reaching for the iron handle again.
Short fingers reached out before he could touch the metal, shoving the door firmly. With a slow creak, it opened up.
Li Zemin laughed at Nox's expression, strutting past him. "Why don't you push next time?"
… Then what were those damn iron rings for?
With a dark expression, Nox followed Li Zemin out of the tunnel. His ability sulked with him, wanting to crush the arrogant door to pieces.
The doors led them to a forest, trees blocking out most of the sky. As both of them stepped into the dense thicket, a screen appeared.
[ Trial: A Heart of Crystal
Main Task: Recover the crystal heart from the White Palace and present it to the Red Queen.
Difficulty: C
Synopsis: The crystal heart is unexpectedly fragile. It is the Red Queen's most prized treasure.]
The two exchanged a glance.
"Do you understand this?"
Nox shook his head. "This never happened before." In the first trial, an 'overseer' told them what to do. He recalled the sleek cat face, then looked at the holographic screen in front of him. If both of them gave such vague tasks, then it would be better with a cute cat…
On the other hand, the dolls dragged him into an unauthorized trial, so he never got any tasks besides clearing the games they set out.
Li Zemin asked, "Where is the White Palace then?" The undergrowth rustled in response.
He was really taking the whole thing in stride. Nox observed his friend's loose demeanor with pity in his eyes. Although Li Zemin didn't show any signs of panic right now, Nox can already hear the explosion of curses when Li Zemin has to run for his life.
Smirking to himself, Nox brushed aside the low hanging branches. They were following a small dirt path, almost invisible thanks to the amount of never-ending shrubbery underfoot. Nox let his ability come out to explore. A thin tendril of blood extended from his forearm, slapping and prodding leaves and sticks alike, searching for more food.
Li Zemin looked at it with some fascination, inching a finger close before the blood tendril slapped it away. "Tch, stingy."
Nox laughed at Li Zemin's complaint. "Who told you to touch it?"
Soon, they arrived in a small clearing with overgrown weeds sprouting from the ground. Without the thick trees overhead, Nox could finally see the hazy looking sky, intermingled in shades of blue and gray.
"Oh? There were others here?" The voice came from across the clearing. A young woman appeared, followed by a quiet child. The woman looked at them with sharp eyes, assessing them.
Nox greeted, "It seems like we're participating in the same trial." There were always good teammates and bad teammates. If the woman was as level-headed as she appeared to be, maybe they could work together.
His calmness gave him a look of acknowledgement from the sharp eyed woman.
Li Zemin stepped forward with a friendly smile directed at the two. "I'm Li Zemin, nice to meet you."
The quiet child looked hesitant, but responded meekly. "My name is Liam." He had short fluffy blonde hair, and skinny limbs showed through the oversized blue jacket. His green eyes stared at them cautiously.
The sharp eyed woman gave a short introduction. "Bak Soomin. Doctor." Her white doctor coat and the badge still hanging around her neck verified her words.
Nox went last, "Nox. I was an office worker."
"Was?" Bak Soomin questioned, crossing her arms.
He shrugged, "I don't think my job exists anymore since the city I lived in was blown up."
Li Zemin shot him a look of alarm.
Nox shook his head at him, not knowing how to explain the gray haired woman and her destructive ability. Was it even possible to be that strong when trials just started appearing? Or... maybe she was an existence that came out of a trial? Shudders ran down his spine at the thought.
Tangled emotions continued to stir inside. He couldn't even tell Roxanne he was okay.
After encountering Fay and Chang Feng again, their exposed identity did answer some of his unspoken questions about the duo. Even though they had no obligation to take care of Roxanne, it wasn't like his sister wasn't aware of the situation… but he couldn't help himself from worrying.
Bak Soomin accepted his answer, a complicated expression flashing across her features before they smoothed out into an impressive poker face.
"So," Li Zemin cleared his throat awkwardly. "Are we just going to ignore… that?" He motioned to the object awkwardly.
By 'that,' he meant the large mushroom in the middle of the weed-infested clearing. It had a large, plump umbrella cap coming up to Nox's waist.
He could feel curiosity spike from his ability, wanting to poke it. Nox kept it firmly under control, not wanting it to touch the suspicious red top. There was a smooth, giant white spot on the top of the cap, making the mushroom look like it was wearing a hat on top of a hat.
Unexpectedly, Bak Soomin spoke up first. "This is the only object that seems out of place." With the dark green shrubbery and muted skies, the vibrant color of the mushroom was the most eye-catching thing around.
Liam shuffled behind Bak Soomin, trying to avoid the mushroom after noticing its weirdness.
Nox observed the plump base easily the size of a large barrel. "Did it just move?"
Li Zemin shuddered next to him, wrapping his arms around himself. "Fuck, don't play jokes like that."
"I wasn't joking though." Nox pointed out, ready to explain when another movement caught his eye.
Under their astonished gazes, the giant mushroom top popped off, revealing a… giant tongue.
Everyone stared in disgust as the long, pointy pink appendage whipped around happily. Its base swelled up even more, then it lashed out. Off guard, it managed to catch the four of them in one fell swoop.
"Urk-" Nox dug his fingers into the slippery surface, trying to get a grip. To his horror, his hands stuck to the tongue the moment he touched them as if they were suddenly slapped on with super glue.
"Is this saliva super glue?!" Li Zemin yelped, voicing Nox's thoughts out loud as his hands were trapped by his side.
Next to him, Bak Soomin tried to pull away her arms to no avail. Traces of panic flashed across her face.
Liam dangled from his foot, helplessly flailing around as the young boy quietly struggled to set himself free.
The mycelium webbed together, waving the group into the air happily with little effort.
Then, they were pulled towards down the mushroom cap and sent into its body.
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A/N: Forgot to update yesterday so I'll add an extra chapter ^^;