"Jack, Remia. Shouldn't we get out of here now…?"
"Sonia. Let's say we leave the dungeon and go back without having found anything yet. Do you think the guild would like that?"
This conversation took place between three adventurers walking through a dark cave, though not so dark that they couldn't discern their surroundings.
Holding a shield and hammer, the warrior Jack answered his friend Sonia's words nervously, glaring at her.
Finding trustworthy companions was extremely important among adventurers, and that's why the three had come together from their hometown. But Sonia's timid behavior always irritated Jack.
If Sonia hadn't had talent in magic, and if there weren't other reasons, Jack might have long ago suggested to the other companion that they form a different adventure party, just the two of them.
"I told you. This is an opportunity. We have to take risks. You agreed, didn't you!"
"But…"
They were novice adventurers, and it wasn't common for the guild to authorize requests beyond simple errands for such beginners.
Let alone properly giving them dungeon reconnaissance missions; if they couldn't properly complete this task, what guild would entrust them with missions, and how would they grow as adventurers?
It was even more irritating that she was saying something different now, even though he had explained everything before they entered this place.
Even though Jack, who was saying this, wasn't following the basics either.
"Be quiet, Jack. Like you said, this is a dungeon. We're on reconnaissance, aren't we?"
"Remia…"
As if on cue, the remaining one of the three cautioned him.
A hunter with light armor covering only vital areas, several daggers hanging at the waist, and a crossbow on the back.
It was Remia.
Unlike Jack, Remia had a deeper understanding of trust between companions, so she didn't particularly dislike Sonia, who, although timid, was good at following instructions.
Sonia knew this too, which is why she was looking at Remia with sparkling eyes.
And, to begin with, Sonia would have been dead without them. Jack knew this too, which is why he could never leave her behind.
They weren't heartless enough to just let their childhood friend die.
"But that… Argh…!"
"…"
Jack scratched his head nervously, and Sonia shrank back even more timidly.
Remia watched as the two turned their eyes in all directions again, and only then did she turn her gaze to the direction she had been guarding.
After all, she, with the widest field of view, was the key to this reconnaissance, so it didn't matter what the other two did, but it was irritating when they interfered with her hearing that she needed to use for vigilance like this.
"Do you hear anything?"
"No. Nothing."
The dungeon was quite deep, but the only monsters they had encountered so far were goblins who had been living in the cave.
They had confirmed the contract mark stamped by the Dungeon Lord, so they were certain these belonged to the dungeon.
"It really seems to be a newly created dungeon."
"I-I guess so…"
"But what are you so scared of…!"
"But there might be something more… It's dark… and deep…"
"Haah…"
This was famous as one of the survival strategies of a dungeon that had just been created.
Before the dungeon's core could generate powerful monsters on its own, it would attract wild monsters roaming nearby, stamp them with a contract mark, and use them as guardians.
Of course, it wasn't very effective.
Wild monsters were barbaric and didn't listen well. They could only understand simple commands like 'protect' or 'attack.'
"We might even be able to claim the core ourselves."
"Don't let your guard down. Even in a dungeon like this, there's always a Lord. Demon races are really strong."
When this world was reorganized under the influence of three great powers, the world resolved to develop peacefully through magical and technological competition rather than military competition.
Dungeons appeared on all continents, along with the Dungeon Lords, who became the center of these dungeons and the rulers of many monsters.
Numerous dungeons sprung up like bamboo shoots.
Most of these dungeons near cities were quickly subjugated, but there were also dungeons that grew in the borderlands and turned their surroundings into demon realms.
The Lords of such demon realms were the most dangerous enemies of the current generation, but that didn't mean the Lords of smaller dungeons were weak.
They were combat creatures of a literally different origin.
With just a little experience, they quickly became monsters in the figurative sense.
So the policy for dungeons generated in these borderlands was to either scout them early and annihilate them or to 'prune' them appropriately as training grounds.
In the end, they thought this dungeon, too, would become a non-threatening existence like many dungeons discovered in their early stages.
The three people knew this.
"Kiii…?!"
Just as the thought 'It's getting too deep. We should turn back soon' was dominating the minds of the three people; a goblin appeared before their eyes.
Like the ones they found near the entrance, it was naked, but this one had no weapon in hand and looked much more fragile.
"Looks like one was left behind."
"Must be a coward. Like Sonia."
"Jack…!"
In an instant, their gazes focused on one point.
Of course, in their minds, there wasn't even a concept that this was wrong.
If an enemy appears before you, you focus on defeating it without letting your guard down. That was the limit of thinking that beginners could do.
It was natural that they couldn't notice the blade seeping into their backs.
Thud-!
"Ugh…!"
"What?!"
"Sonia?!"
The moment Jack was about to rush towards the goblin, Sonia suddenly collapsed with shock.
And from within her shadow, a figure revealed itself.
"A skeleton…?"
A pure white bone soldier holding a bastard sword with Sonia's blood on the handle—one of the most basic demonic creatures among the undead race, traces of cursed life.
However, the two conscious adventurers felt an abnormal level of pressure.
The cave had somehow become completely dark. In the pitch-black space, the clean white that stood out alone was very eerie.
"It's a monster generated in the dungeon. It'll be different from the wild monsters outside. But where…?!"
Remia, who was expressing doubt about its stealthy appearance, soon realized the answer.
The secret was in the long, winding dungeon walls.
The dungeon, which was initially bright with torches on the walls, gradually became darker as the intervals between torches widened, and the wall contours became more pronounced as it got darker.
The place where the skeleton was hiding was a shadow created by the collaboration of the occasionally appearing torches and these deepened contours.
For a moment, Remia wondered if they had fallen into a trap set by the Dungeon Lord, but she soon dismissed that thought.
'That coward is real.'
Because the goblin still wasn't attacking.
Even goblins, the weakest and most cunning of the greenskins, are violent enough not to hesitate to rush in madly when an enemy shows weakness.
However, the fact that such a goblin still wasn't attacking them was evidence that at least this attack wasn't planned for that goblin.
It was also evidence that in the eyes of the goblin, sensitive to the strength of friend and foe, Remia's side was still considered stronger.
"I'll remove the variable. Block that one."
"Ah, the goblin. Got it. Just one skeleton."
And above all, a skeleton is just one of the most basic monsters. If there was going to be an ambush, the Dungeon Lord should have appeared instead.
These monsters with different physical specs can be quite troublesome opponents with just a bit of magic or swordsmanship.
It was a misjudgment by the beginners who didn't know that the Dungeon Lord was really a newbie who had just appeared, but it wasn't entirely wrong thinking.
In reality, the body of the Dungeon Lord, Rita, even in its current state, had specs that could handle a couple of novice adventurers with just a weapon.
The real problem was that Rita wasn't yet 'prepared to cut the lifeline of a person,' but there was no way the two could know that.
That's also why the skeleton deliberately knocked Sonia unconscious with the handle instead of killing her.
Twang!
At Remia's request, Jack stepped forward, and Remia raised her pre-loaded crossbow and shot at the goblin.
She intended to quickly kill the goblin and then immediately turn around to support Jack. Although skeletons weren't a particularly strong species, they were monsters with great variance between individuals and equipment.
Since it was a creature without thinking ability, it probably wouldn't do anything with Sonia, but if Jack got hurt because of some other variable, their chances would be slim.
But.
"Kieek…!!"
"It dodged…?!"
The goblin, which they thought would never dodge because its body was stiff, dodged the arrow.
It had merely collapsed in place, but it had dodged nonetheless. There was still a possibility that it could attack Sonia before they could completely kill it.
They couldn't lose their dear friend to a mere goblin.
"How annoying…!"
A crossbow is easy to shoot when pre-loaded, but it takes a long time to reload. Doing that would take much longer.
In the end, she drew her dagger and rushed towards the goblin.
Thud!!
The goblin was still collapsed.
Remia, who had struck the goblin's head, soon noticed something strange.
Although she often used weapons that mainly provided ranged support, it wasn't like she had never killed a monster directly.
But the sensation in her hand that struck the goblin's head felt odd.
As if she had struck something rotten, it was too easy…
'…Was this originally such a mess?'
She already knew the goblin's body was unusually dry, but up close, this was beyond that level.
She hadn't noticed it quickly because the goblin had been standing in a shadow that their torches couldn't quite illuminate.
Its limbs were not just thin but looked like they might crumble at any moment, and part of its head skin was peeled off, revealing a white skull. It was as if it wasn't alive, but it had originally been a zombie.
'A zombie? It's not… alone?!'
Remia quickly turned her head towards Jack.
"Ugh!"
However, the situation was already over.
"H-Help…"
"Jack…?!"
The exceptionally white skeleton, fully revealed under the torch, was colored red with someone's blood.
And beneath it, her precious companion and friend lay bleeding.
-Clatter.
The emotionless clattering of the skeleton reached Remia's ears a moment later.
"Is it over?"
A voice that was clearly female but slightly husky, low, and indifferent echoed through the cave.