There will come a day when this sky can no longer obscure my vision, when this earth… no, that’s not quite right. I seem to be mixing up my lines.
No, it should be: one day, Bai Xia would surely knock Tian Zheng flat onto the ground, then straddle him, seize his equipment, claim his assets, and leave him utterly helpless!
Indeed, did he truly think he could get away with taking advantage of her so easily? Let him prepare to pay the price, mere mortal.
Before all that, however, it was imperative to first examine this mysterious passage that had suddenly materialized before them.
As Bai Xia intently peered into the maw of the cave, the system’s voice finally chimed in.
“Ding! Unknown spatial channel detected. Warning: System analysis indicates potential danger beyond this passage. Proceed with extreme caution.”
‘A spatial channel?’
The system’s alert caused Bai Xia to falter, for the dark, gaping maw before her bore no resemblance whatsoever to a sophisticated spatial channel.
Still…
‘A spatial channel? Does that imply this passage leads to an entirely different dimension?’
No one could answer her question, for without venturing inside, the true nature of what lay beyond would remain a mystery. Yet, the system’s explicit warning compelled her to approach with extreme caution, especially since it had already indicated the high probability of danger.
Adding to her apprehension, the entrance itself possessed an undeniably eerie quality, instilling an unsettling sense of dread that was difficult to articulate.
‘So… to enter, or not to enter?’
Bai Xia glanced at Tian Zheng, who had clearly received the same system alert. The man merely shrugged, his demeanor remarkably relaxed. “I’ll follow your lead,” he offered.
“My lead, you say? Then by all means, after you!”
While the adage ‘curiosity killed the cat’ held true, human curiosity often far surpassed that of felines. Thus, despite the system’s ominous warning of danger within, Bai Xia merely hesitated for a fleeting moment before deciding to venture inside.
After all, it was merely a game. Even if they encountered an insurmountable monster and were instantly obliterated, it would only result in a minor loss of experience. How could such a trifle compare to the exhilarating thrill of exploring a mysterious, uncharted map?
Naturally, to exact her revenge for the earlier incident where her backside had been touched, Bai Xia decided Tian Zheng would lead the way.
The man offered no protest, stepping directly into the darkness, leading the charge.
Bai Xia followed close behind. The moment she stepped through, her vision plunged into utter blackness, and the next instant, she collided squarely with Tian Zheng’s back.
Concurrently, the system’s voice chimed in once more.
“Ding! Special map discovered – ‘The Lost Dungeon’! Reward: 100 gold coins.”
Bai Xia instinctively took two steps back, rubbing her nose. Before she could even take in her surroundings, the system’s announcement once again left her dumbfounded.
‘A reward? And a hefty one hundred gold coins at that!’
Was one hundred gold a substantial sum? Ordinarily, no. However, context was everything. In these nascent stages of the game, with Bai Xia’s typical luck, her entire accumulated wealth hadn’t even approached a hundred gold coins. At this juncture, it was nothing short of a ‘fortune’!
Moreover, this was a system reward!
What did the word ‘system’ typically imply? Unquestionably… stinginess. The initial defensive gear it had provided earlier possessed no attributes whatsoever, yet now, merely for discovering a special map, it was generously doling out a hundred gold coins. Was this truly not a dream?
Come to think of it, once she sold off the money she’d recently earned and the few pieces of equipment dropped by monsters, it seemed she might finally no longer have to fret about her upcoming trip to Yuanyao (TL Note: A specific in-game location or event, contextually not implying anything illicit.) in half a month. The thought was truly heartwarming!
Sentimental feelings aside, Bai Xia remained profoundly curious about what kind of place could possibly prompt the system to be so exceptionally generous.
Strangely enough, before entering, the interior had appeared utterly black. Yet now, having stepped inside, the surroundings seemed to have grown somewhat brighter, despite the complete absence of any discernible light source.
However, no matter how she scrutinized her surroundings, the current location, save for the absence of blue crystals, was indistinguishable from the previous cave passages. Whereas before they might have occasionally spotted a few goblins, now, a sweeping glance revealed absolutely nothing that could be deemed dangerous.
Behind them, the entrance through which they had come remained, a twin to the one they’d left on the other side—a silent, gaping maw, seemingly capable of devouring all that dared approach.
Bai Xia surveyed her immediate vicinity, yet aside from the passage behind them, she discerned nothing out of the ordinary.
Still, the system’s recent message had mentioned ‘The Lost Dungeon.’ Perhaps something awaited them deeper within?
The mere mention of a ‘dungeon’ undeniably ignited a spark of excitement within Bai Xia.
‘Because this clearly pointed to some ancient ruins!’
Ancient ruins were, after all, one of the most significant features of the game ‘Otherworld.’ Discovering one almost certainly heralded a chance to strike it rich! While wealth often came hand-in-hand with peril, couldn’t one at least enjoy the visual feast, even if the treasures remained out of reach?
Finding nothing of interest in their immediate surroundings, Bai Xia unhesitatingly led Tian Zheng deeper into the passage.
And this journey, surprisingly, stretched on for a full two hours…
“Why is this taking so long?!”
Two hours later, gazing down the seemingly endless, barren passage, Bai Xia could no longer suppress her exasperated sigh.
By now, dusk was likely settling in the real world. Yet, after walking for such an extended period, they hadn’t even glimpsed a shadow, let alone anything resembling a dungeon. It was utterly maddening!
Curiously, the passage beneath their feet had imperceptibly shifted from level ground to a downward slope, growing progressively steeper. Occasionally, they would even spot sections of man-made stairs carved into the rock.
“Let’s press on for a bit longer,” Tian Zheng suggested, noting the encroaching hour. “If it remains this way… then our only option will be to log off and resume our exploration tomorrow.”
Bai Xia nodded in agreement, then, with renewed patience, continued her trek forward.
To turn back now was simply unthinkable. Such an opportunity was incredibly rare, and they absolutely had to witness the true appearance of this ‘dungeon’ before conceding defeat.
This time, however, their advance wasn’t prolonged. After approximately five or six minutes, both Bai Xia and Tian Zheng simultaneously detected a faint, anomalous aura.
They exchanged a knowing glance, then simultaneously quickened their pace.
The next moment, an exit finally materialized at the very edge of their vision!
Despite their continuous descent, implying the dungeon should be buried deep beneath the earth, the moment they breached the passage, an overwhelming brilliance assaulted their senses. It was as if they had stepped from a perpetually dim chamber into the blinding glare of the sun, prompting both Bai Xia and Tian Zheng to involuntarily shut their eyes.
After a considerable moment, as her vision slowly returned, Bai Xia cautiously opened her eyes to survey the world before her, and instantly froze.
How to describe it? Though the system’s prompt had offered some mental preparation, when the full, breathtaking panorama of ‘The Lost Dungeon’ finally unfurled before her eyes, Bai Xia was utterly, profoundly awestruck by the spectacle.
This subterranean space, meant to be confined, stretched impossibly vast, its far reaches lost to the eye. Bai Xia found herself perched at an immense height, from which she could survey more than half of what lay below.
‘That’s right, a city!’
Sprawling before her was a city, an expanse of peculiar architecture. As far as her gaze could reach, countless towering structures still retained their ancient forms, yet nearly half of the district had utterly collapsed, succumbing to the relentless erosion of time and falling into desolate ruin.
Though undeniably a city, it appeared utterly lifeless. Not only were there no signs of human inhabitants, but not even a single monster could be spotted within her field of vision.
‘This is the dungeon the system mentioned? Its scale is truly immense…’
Her gaze snapping back, Bai Xia’s eyes blazed with an intensified fervor. “Quickly, let’s get a closer look!”
She eagerly took a step forward, only for her foot to halt abruptly.
As previously noted, they were situated at a considerable elevation. The passage culminated in a small, semi-circular platform, and surrounding and beneath this platform lay… an endless abyss!
Between Bai Xia and Tian Zheng’s current vantage point and the city spread out before them, there was not only a significant difference in height, but also a colossal chasm—a rift easily a hundred meters wide and seemingly bottomless—that cleaved the land.
Naturally, the path into the city lay directly before them: a series of peculiar aerial staircases, constructed from stone, that floated diagonally above the abyssal chasm, forming a precarious bridge between the two landmasses.
However…
She swallowed hard.
Gazing at the aerial staircase, much of which lay in dilapidated ruin, and then at the bottomless abyss surrounding their platform, Bai Xia swallowed hard, feeling a tremor run through her calves.
“Um… you know, I’ve suddenly lost a bit of interest in this ‘dungeon’ after all. How about we just head back?”
Tian Zheng merely stared, speechless.