After we closed our status screens, a new panel appeared in front of us.
{ First Floor: Maze }
{ Objective: Find the stairs. There are monsters scattered throughout the maze. Recommended Level: 1. }
"Oh, okay, that's not hard; just find the stairs," Frey said, glancing at me with a smirk.
"It's quite easy… too easy," I replied, narrowing my eyes at the panel.
Geomi tilted her head thoughtfully. "Don't you guys find it weird how calm we are?"
I nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I have a title called [Adaptable] that helps me adjust to situations like this, but you guys don't have anything like that, right?"
The girls shook their heads.
"Thought so," I muttered. "Maybe we've been desensitized to this kind of thing from all the anime, manga, and novels we've consumed."
"That's one way to look at it," Geomi said with a faint smile.
We started walking deeper into the cave, eventually entering a maze made of towering stone shelves. The air was thick with dust, and stray books lay scattered on the ground, their spines cracked and pages torn.
{ Due to your higher-than-average Insight stat, you have discovered the first floor's hidden subquest: "The Secret of the Forgotten Library." }
"Huh? Did either of you get that quest notification?" I asked, startled.
Frey turned to me, already annoyed. "Let me guess—you had some deep thought like, 'Oh, something feels off,' and suddenly the system handed you a hidden subquest."
"What? No," I shot back. "My Insight stat detected it. This isn't some poorly written novel."
Geomi chuckled. "I got it too, so don't worry, Frey. Rika's not that special."
I rolled my eyes and glanced around the maze, noting the eerie silence and the unsettling way the shelves seemed to loom over us. "It says something about 'The Secret of the Forgotten Library.' Maybe there's something valuable hidden here?"
"Great," Frey sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "More distractions. Let's just hope it's actually useful."
"Hidden quests usually are," I replied, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension.
{ The Secret of the Forgotten Library }
{ Description: The library was once filled with almost all the knowledge in the world but was destroyed when forbidden knowledge entered it, erasing all records and history. }
{ Task: Find the 10 shards. }
{ Shards: 0/10 }
After sharing the quest details with Frey and Geomi, the latter nodded. "So we're looking for shards. Got it. Let's stay focused; we don't know what kind of monsters could be lurking here either."
"Yeah, and keep an eye out for anything strange," I added.
The tension in the air grew as we moved deeper into the maze. My [9th Sense] skill suddenly flared, an uneasy warning thrumming in my chest. Without thinking, I sprinted ahead of the group.
"Rika! Wait!" Frey called after me, but I couldn't stop.
After turning down several corners, I froze. A goblin stood in a dimly lit section of the maze, about four feet tall with green, warty skin and beady red eyes that gleamed with malice. Its claws clutched a crude, rusty dagger.
{The [Ins] stat has revealed some of the monster's information.}
{ Tombsnatch Goblin: Lvl 2 }
{ A keeper of the library corrupted by forbidden knowledge. The forbidden knowledge has brought out this keeper's true nature and caused it to take a fitting form for it. Its nature is █████████████, and it is its biggest weakness. }
{ Your [Ins] stat is not high enough to see all of this monster's information. }
The goblin had a strange look in its eye as it let out a guttural growl, its eyes narrowing as it stared at me. It lunged, brandishing its weapon. I was paralyzed, my body refusing to move.
At the last second, I managed to dodge, but the goblin's swipe still caught my arm, leaving a shallow cut. The sharp, burning pain jolted me out of my stupor.
{ [Adaptable] has activated }
{ Title [Adaptable] has created the partial skills [Fear Resistance] and [Pain Resistance] }
A strange clarity washed over me. The fear dissipated, replaced by a focused awareness. My movements felt more precise, my body adjusting to the pain. Spotting a heavy rock nearby, I grabbed it and readied myself.
The goblin lunged again, but this time I dodged with ease. I countered, smashing the rock into its face. It staggered but didn't fall, snarling angrily.
It struck out again, cutting my leg, but the pain felt distant, almost irrelevant, and my body felt sluggish—almost as if I'd been poisoned. I still pressed the advantage, slamming the rock into its head repeatedly. The goblin collapsed to the ground, but I didn't stop.
Blue blood splattered my face as I kept hitting it, the adrenaline driving me to ensure it stayed down. A notification appeared.
{ You have killed a Tombsnatch Goblin: Lvl 2 }
{ XP gained: 5. }
{ Level up! }
{ You and the skills [Basic Martial Arts] and [Evasion Techniques] have reached Level 2 }
{ Lvl: [2/5], XP: [0/10] }
I stood there trembling, my breathing ragged. My hands shook, the rock slipping from my grip. Tears streamed down my face as my adrenaline dissipated and the reality of what just happened sank in. I turned and ran to a corner, throwing up as my body shook uncontrollably.
Curling into a ball, I hugged my knees and sobbed. I made sure to sit in a corner where I could see both entrances into the small alcove, trying to feel safe.
"Rika!"
I looked up to see Frey and Geomi rushing toward me. Frey's eyes widened in horror at the scene, while Geomi froze, staring at the goblin's mangled remains.
Frey knelt beside me, her voice soft but frantic. "Rika, are you okay? Are you hurt badly?"
I sniffled, trying to steady my voice. "I-I think I'll be okay. The goblin... it attacked me, and I just... I had to fight back."
Frey gently examined my wounds. "You're bleeding, but it's not too deep. We need to clean these cuts, though."
Geomi approached the goblin's corpse, her expression grim. "What a mess," she muttered. "But it's over now."
Suddenly, another notification appeared.
{ Title [Adaptable] has neutralized the foreign substance in your body and created the partial skill [Poison Resistance] }
"Oh," I muttered. "I guess it really was poison…"
Frey's eyes widened, and she grabbed my arm. "Poison? Are you sure you're okay? Shouldn't we do something? Wait—I'll suck it out!"
"Frey, no!" I protested, but she was already leaning toward my arm.
"Were you hurt anywhere else?" she asked, inspecting me thoroughly.
"Fre—stop! I'm fine!"
Ignoring me, she lifted my shirt, checking for more wounds.
Geomi, who had been inspecting the goblin's dagger, turned away with a visible blush. "I-I'll just... uh... check the corpse some more, y-yeah... that..." she muttered, her voice strained.