Anxiety And Panic

(Ngh... What the hell!? What’s going on??)

The stone lantern, which had seemed to grow with some purpose, now began to fade away, leaving both me and Nina-san visibly shaken.

"Uh, sh-shouldn’t we set something in it now while we still can!?"

The stone lantern simply sank silently into the ground. In the face of this, Nina-san frantically voiced her thoughts.

"No! What if that’s exactly what the trap wants us to do!? Let’s wait and see first!"

"Hey, what’s going on? Ah! The tower’s sinking!!"

Just then, Serai-san, who had noticed the disturbance, returned and joined us. The three of us watched as the stone lantern sank and disappeared.

Once the lantern had completely vanished into the floor, the surroundings grew abruptly darker.

"Hey, Gekkou-san... Is this really okay?"

"No idea... But since we didn’t set anything, nothing should happen, probably."

The strange shape of the lantern had been deeply unsettling.

But if this were a DVD player on a computer, nothing would happen if you didn’t insert any media—it’d just return to normal. In fact, putting something in and activating it would be the worse option, wouldn’t it?

"If that’s the case, then great, but what if we end up trapped here forever...?"

"Ugh... It’s so dark and eerily quiet, it’s kinda creepy."

The area had suddenly darkened, and the air itself felt still, as if frozen. In the midst of it all, only Masaru’s heavy breathing needlessly echoed.

Hmph... I’ve read countless manga in my life. I remember plenty of the puzzle-solving scenarios depicted in them. The same goes for games I’ve played extensively.

According to those, suspicious objects that stand out like this are usually triggers for doors, traps, or something similar. That’s why I figured it’d be best not to carelessly interact with it unless I was absolutely sure it was the right door...

"The room’s empty now, but let’s search the area again carefully. And if we need it, the stone lantern might just grow back agai—... Huh?"

Just as I was explaining our next move to reassure the two of them, the outer wall suddenly shifted, revealing a path.

"Seriously, stop scaring us... If there was a path, it could’ve shown up sooner."

"But isn’t this good? Means we’re not trapped."

The two of them sighed in relief upon realizing they weren’t trapped—though their words suggested the opposite. Serai-san put on a tough front, but Nina-san seemed genuinely anxious.

"A path, huh... Seriously, way to give us a scare."

Truth be told, I was relieved too.

After the dimensional storage failed, most of our supplies had been left behind at the spot where we fought the boss.

I mean, c’mon, the stone stage started moving out of nowhere—we didn’t even have time to grab anything.

So, food and water? Gone. The mithril dagger, comms device, and other valuables? Nina-san had packed them safely into her backpack to keep them from breaking, but everything else was lost.

Well... If you compare the value, the full stock of all-purpose recovery potions in my current storage is worth way more than the personal items and tools we left behind. Still, losing gear I was used to is a real shame.

"...Nothing’s there. Seems safe."

Serai-san, who had gone ahead to check the newly opened passage, reported that the coast was clear.

"Alright. There’s only one path, so let’s move forward."

"Ugh, it’s so dark... I miss sunlight~. I wanna get back above ground already."

Walking alongside Nina-san, I caught up to Serai-san and stepped into the passage. Like the stone stage, this path had a ruin-like aesthetic, with evenly spaced stone pillars lining the way.

Hm...?

But as we walked, I soon noticed something strange.

"Wait, what’s wrong?"

"Why’d you stop? There’s nothing here."

Since I was leading, the other two grew suspicious when I halted.

"Something’s off. I haven’t been able to sense the dungeon’s mana at all..."

"The dungeon’s mana?"

"You mean the stuff that makes dungeons glow or gets absorbed by unattended objects?"

"Yeah. If the decomposition-absorption effect were active, I should at least feel a faint trace of it... But there’s nothing..."

"Wait, really...? W-WHOA!!"

"What’s wrong, Machi!?"

"Look behind you! The walls are melting away like stains!!"

"Huh!? No way— Oh crap, you’re right!!"

"What the—!?"

I turned around too, running back to where Masaru had been quietly following, and sure enough, parts of the dungeon walls had begun vanishing—dissolving into pale blue particles...

"Th-this disappearance pattern... No way, is it the same as a boss-level monster’s!?"

Breaking News. This dungeon’s starting to disappear!