—System Message—
Daily Quest (2)
Status = Failed
Initiating Penalty level 1
—---
As soon as Alex was transported to an unknown location, he quickly bent down, trying to get as close to the ground as possible.
"A penalty zone, this can't be good. This time, it's not just a dream phase. This looks and feels nothing like I.Zombie, either. This is really real..."
Alex's mind began to race with potential scenarios. "It's cold, and the air feels very stale. The smell... what is this smell? It smells like death?" In a squatting position, with one hand on the ground, Alex tried to sense anything around him.
"My eyes aren't adjusting well; everything is still blurry from the effect of the teleportation. Shoot, I didn't get a chance to change my clothes. I'm sure that old man thinks I ran away for some reason. I'll have to apologize if I ever see him again."
After a few minutes of stillness, Alex's eyes began to adjust. He started to survey his surroundings. In front of him was a cave-like structure, and above was the sky, which was not normal, as it had two moons.
One moon had a giant smile on its surface and was very bright, while the other, much darker in color, seemed to be weeping. They were unsettling to look at, provoking an odd sensation that Alex found unpleasant.
He stopped looking upwards and scanned the area. He could now guess the type of environment the penalty wanted him to explore. It was reminiscent of environments from some of his favorite games. The first thing he wanted to do was confirm that there really was only one path.
He tried to circumvent the cave-like structure containing the stairs by going around it. However, he encountered an invisible wall. Despite trying to force his way through, it was futile.
He then attempted to walk around the perimeter of the invisible barrier to gauge its size. To his astonishment, the circumference of the invisible wall was quite small. There was nowhere to go but towards the cave.
He could feel it; breaking through was impossible. His only option was forward, into the depths of the Catacombs.
Alex cautiously stepped into the dimly lit cave, feeling a chill run down his spine. At first, there were only stairs. The stairs never seemed to end. As he kept going down, eventually any light from the outside was no longer reaching; it was pitch dark. Keeping his hands on the surface of the walls, trying to touch or feel for anything, he felt that there was a sudden change in the temperature of the walls. They were getting much colder.
Alex had now been going down stairs for at least 10 minutes.
"This is never-ending, how far down do I need to go? Also, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. The system said this is a penalty for not completing my daily quest, but it never said anything about how I can get out of here. There must be an objective to this," suddenly, Alex thought of an idea.
By holding his thumb close to his mouth, Alex started to whisper to it. "Hey Ring, uhh how are you? I'm really sorry I failed the quest, but you saw what was happening, I was attacked and almost died. I won't do it again I promise, I'll always finish the quests on time. Can you forgive me this one time and just send me back?"
Alex kept whispering sweet things to the ring but was only met with silence and could only hear the sound of his own footsteps.
"This f**king thing…" Alex thought in his head, not daring to speak out loud.
As he kept descending for the next 30 minutes, his senses started to pick up some sounds. It was a loud rumbling, and as he continued down, it kept getting louder and louder. He could now see a faint light.
"Yes, I knew it - there's always light at the end of the tunnel. People say don't follow that light… these people don't really understand that light is a blessing. Onwards and hopefully upwards, Alex! Let's get out of this place in one piece," Alex started to descend faster.
As Alex kept heading towards the light, he noticed that the passageways were getting narrower, and they kept winding and forking.
"Looks like I'm in for a real treat," he muttered to himself. As he ventured deeper, he eventually found himself in a big clearing area.
His eyes adjusted to the sudden light. The sound was booming everywhere, so loud that his sensitive ears were starting to hurt. He stayed perfectly still for the first few minutes, taking in the breathtaking sight of his current environment.
There, stood infront of him was a waterfall so huge, reaching high into the air. Its water was so clear that it looked like sparkling glass. The sound of the water crashing down was loud and exciting. The air around the waterfall was fresh and cool, which felt really nice.
Green plants grew around the waterfall, making it look like a secret place in a jungle. When Alex looked up, the waterfall seemed to start from way up in the sky. It fell down into a big pool that had gentle ripples.
The sound of the waterfall filled Alex's ears. It was a strong and beautiful noise. Standing near the waterfall made Alex feel happy and calm. It was like finding a special, hidden spot that was just for him.
'I want to take some of these plants back with me. I wonder if I can? They look exotic enough to be able to sell' Alex thought. He went to the nearest one, and very carefully scooped up the plant, and to his surprise, the plant immediately withered.
'Doesn't look like I can take anything with me out of here. Most likely because this is a penalty zone? This place must exist in the real world, I wonder where it is located? Alex pondered, but decided to move on.
He looked to see where he should go, and after walking around for a while, carefully avoiding the water just in case it was not what it seemed, he found a path forward, hidden behind the waterfall. He found a thin trail that led him behind the waterfall, and into another narrow cave.
"This really is just like a game! This is actually... pretty cool," just as he finished that thought; he heard the clatter of bones and the scraping of metal against stone.