Floor 29—the location where information about the Abyss was supposedly stored.
Only 30 minutes remained. Time had to be used wisely.
When Arov first considered this floor, he imagined it would be heavily guarded.
But sometimes, reality contradicts expectations.
"Empty…" Arov muttered, glancing left and right.
The place was deserted. Not a soul in sight.
Even the usual hallways filled with alarms, CCTV cameras, and patrolling guards were completely absent.
All that remained was a thick layer of dust, occasionally cleaned by air-vent suction.
Despite this, the floor was as vast as the others.
There had to be a reason for this emptiness.
Arov tightened his belt, shifting his center of gravity to his waist. The muscles in his legs tensed with an intimidating force.
He sprinted down the long corridor, checking room after room.
Empty.
Empty.
Empty.
There was absolutely nothing.
Five minutes passed in vain.
"Hah…" Arov exhaled heavily, slumping against a corner of the room, his legs cramping.
It truly seemed like there was nothing here.
Reluctantly, he prepared to continue.
As he was about to leave, a whisper from deep within his intuition stopped him in his tracks.
Recently, ever since obtaining the *Bearer of Fortune* Trait, Arov's spiritual senses had become significantly sharper.
It felt like an internal alarm, especially when facing traps on other floors.
Ironically, it wasn't the traps detecting him—but him detecting them.
Suddenly, a golden panel with radiant edges appeared in his vision.
[Child of Fortune: Over there ☞]
In the corner of the room, a small cube the size of a fist emerged.
Arov hadn't noticed its presence before—because it simply hadn't been there until now.
[Child of Fortune: Take it, idiot! Σ(°д°ﾉ)ﾉ]
"..."
Without a word, Arov approached the cube.
It was black with golden edges, covered in grotesque bumps on every surface—just looking at it was nauseating.
Carefully, Arov lifted the object. It was ice-cold, though luckily, he was wearing gloves.
A blue panel appeared before him.
[No information is available for this item.]
A golden panel overlapped the blue system screen.
[Child of Fortune: Open the cube. See those weird bumps on every surface? They're the cube's eyes. I'll mark each surface with numbers 1 through 6. Stab the eyes with your dagger. Each corner has eight segments—destroy them from 8 to 1 on every surface whose eyes you've stabbed. Pay attention to the edges. The cube has 12 sharp ridges. Don't lose focus on the scales embedded in those ridges; they're crawling with poison and strange creatures. Also, make sure to...]
What the hell?
After enduring an impromptu lecture from the Child of Fortune, Arov reluctantly carried out its instructions. Despite his hesitation, he executed them flawlessly.
The cube once an ordinary cube, became something entirely… other.
The object was utterly dismantled. The cube's "eyes" were pierced by Arov's dagger, oozing a disgusting green fluid.
Next, its corners cracked and shattered. Scales peeled off from its sides, releasing writhing worms that squirmed away.
The cube was now covered in runic inscriptions carved meticulously by Arov.
It exuded a foul stench, leaving only a small patch untouched.
A mouth with unnaturally perfect white teeth burst forth from the cube, as if trying to escape.
Yet it remained trapped, unable to fully emerge.
The mouth was now fixed onto the cube's surface.
The writhing worms began fleeing the cube.
For some reason, an ominous feeling crept over Arov, sending chills down his spine.
---
572 Word, 2 Chap today