"Okay, that's a bit strange," Juliet commented, and the team entered the portal, stepping into an arched hallway that resembled a silver-colored cathedral. Numerous pillars stretched towards the towering roof. They walked a distance into the hall before coming to a stop.
"Let's quickly locate the missing adventurers and make our way out. I have other things to attend to," Catherine urged. The team proceeded further into the hallway, guided by their GPS signals. Eventually, they arrived in front of a large blue door.
"This must be the source of the signal," Catherine exclaimed, her phone's GPS beeping insistently. "I don't see any monsters beyond that door, so it seems the adventurers must have taken care of them."
"Then let's go inside and find them," they said, swinging the door open. As the door creaked slightly, the adventurers' eyes widened in shock. Before them lay the lifeless bodies of the adventurers, surrounded by green goblins. Among them stood a peculiar creature—a young girl with long white hair cascading down to her breasts. Her pupils were vertical, resembling those of a dragon, and her yellow eyes seemed to pierce through them. Fish scales adorned her otherwise symmetrical face, and her hands appeared to be made of eagle wings crafted from fish scales. She stood naked, a sight that further added to the eerie atmosphere.
The team was taken aback by the sight of the dead adventurers, although it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Adventurers often fell victim to monsters, particularly the inexperienced ones. However, Neo was surprised to see the nine goblins and the creature itself displaying what seemed like mourning, crying for the fallen adventurers, their eyes filled with tears.
"Well, the best we can do for these adventurers is to avenge their deaths," Brody declared, lowering his giant sword and swiftly springing into action. He charged after the goblins, determination gleaming in his eyes.
"I completely agree. We can't let them escape," Ricky, the dwarf, and Gregory, with his wolf-like fur, followed Brody in hot pursuit, ready to slay the goblins.
"Guys, wait! Something doesn't feel right!" Neo shouted, his voice filled with concern.
"The only thing that doesn't feel right is seeing dead adventurers on the floor," Gregory retorted, rushing forward toward the goblins. The goblins raised their hands in a protective gesture, dropping their swords and attempting to speak. But Gregory sprinted past Brody and swung his sword vertically, mercilessly slaying three of the goblins.
As their lifeless bodies hit the ground, torrents of blood splattered into the air.
Brody swung his sword at the female creature, which agilely leaped backward to evade the attack.
"You're not getting away," he growled, slamming his palm onto the ground. Ice shards erupted from the ground, accompanied by icy ropes and thorns, attacking the creature relentlessly. However, she struggled to speak amidst the onslaught. Overwhelmed by the assault, she turned and swung her hand, soaring into the air flying out of reach and deeper into the dark hallway of the cathedral-like cave.
The creature glanced back and caught sight of Ricky hammering a goblin's head, swiftly ending its life. Tears welled up in her eyes as she made her escape. Catherine, Sandra, Juliet, and Neo observed this with curiosity as tears streamed down the young female creature's face.
"Something feels off," Sandra said, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow.
"I've never seen monsters cry before. It's peculiar," Neo added, his voice filled with a mixture of intrigue and concern.
Suddenly, the nine fallen adventurers on the floor began to tremble and convulse, as if struggling to regain their lives, only to succumb to death once more.
"What? Were they still alive?" Catherine rushed to the adventurers, horror etched across their faces, and noticed sword scars that marred their visages from their faces down to their necks.
Opening their clothes, they discovered countless sword scars covering their bodies, a grim testament to their final moments.
"What the hell happened to these hunters?" Catherine asked Juliet, her voice filled with concern.
"Something is not right! This is why I asked to wait, but you had to kill them," Neo said, standing behind the adventurers and observing their bodies with sword scars. He noticed that the adventurers' wounds resembled the ones inflicted by Brody, Gregory, and Ricky on the goblins.
"What's going on here? These scars weren't on their bodies a while ago. Could these adventurers somehow be connected to the goblins? The way Ricky hammered the head of that goblin matches the scar on the player's head," Neo exclaimed, bewildered.
"What the hell?" The team inspected the bodies and looked around, finding no monsters nearby except for a suspicious dark hallway adjacent to them. They carefully carried the bodies out of the dungeon and back to the van. After a while, they delivered the bodies to the inspector, explaining what they had witnessed before calling it a day.
...
A brown door to an apartment swung open, and Sandra and Neo walked into the room.
"I need a hot bath," Neo said, stripping off his clothes and heading into the bathroom to wash away his sweat. He turned on the tap, and the water poured down on his skin. Sandra, looking at Neo through the steamed glass, smiled and began undressing. As Neo washed, he suddenly felt two hands touching his back.
"Now you're looking for trouble, Sandra," Neo smiled, turning around to face his girlfriend. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and they rushed naked to the bed, consumed by urgency. They made love until exhaustion overtook them, and they fell asleep in each other's arms as night fell.
As the morning sun rose, the alarm clock failed to blare into Neo's ears, and the chirping birds remained silent. Stretching his hand from the bed to reach the nearby cupboard, he instead touched a soft body next to him.
Confused, he rubbed the body, realizing that it lacked certain features, like Sandra's breasts, and felt cold to the touch.
Opening his eyes wider, he saw the shocking truth before him. His hand rested upon the lifeless body of a goblin, one that he recognized from the previous day when Brody and the others had killed it. He scanned the room and realized that the roof above him was not his bedroom ceiling but the very same dungeon where they had confronted the nine goblins. Panic surged through him as he noticed he was naked, with his clothes strewn across the dungeon floor and Sandra sleeping beside him.
"Huh! I didn't wake up in Hero's body this time but in a dungeon. Ok, this is getting creepy! What the hell is happening to me? Even Sandra is here with me"
"Sandra! Sandra, wake up! I think we're cursed!" Neo urgently shook Sandra, trying to wake her up. She stirred from her sleep, feeling the hardness of the floor beneath her. Confused, she opened her eyes and looked around, instantly recognizing their surroundings. They were back in the dungeon.
"We were sleeping in our room. How did we end up back here?" Sandra's voice trembled with fear as they both turned to face each other.
Suddenly, Catherine rose from a distance, her eyes widening in shock. She wore a disheveled white nightgown, her hair wildly messed up and untamed.
"Ah! Eeekkkkyyyyaaaaa!" Catherine freaked out, pointing at the duo in the midst of getting dressed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Her gaze scanned from Neo's bare chest to his boxers and then shifted to the half-naked Sandra next to him.
"I must be dreaming!" Catherine exclaimed before lying back down on the floor, hoping to escape the perplexing reality before her.