The corridor narrowed, swallowing Mei in damp darkness.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water hit stone. She stopped. The dripping stopped with her.
Her fingers tightened around her hilt. The silence wasn't abandoned—it was deliberate, like the dungeon itself was holding its breath.
Twenty paces ahead stood a barefoot girl in a white dress, long black hair spilling across her face.
Mei froze. She knew this dungeon. Every trap, every monster, every hidden room from her first life.
There was no little girl.
The child slowly raised her head. Half her face was gone, the edges shimmering like broken glass, shedding dark fragments into the air. One enormous, void-black eye locked onto Mei.
Unknown entity. Unknown ability. Don't attack first.
The girl raised a trembling hand and pointed behind Mei.
Instinct screamed at Mei to spin around, but she anchored her heels. Never turn your back on an unknown.
The girl pointed harder, her tiny frame shaking violently. Her jaw dropped—stretching into a sickening KRRRK far beyond human limits. Dark liquid seeped from her eye as the air plunged into a flash-freeze.
The stone floor groaned beneath them.
The child lunged forward, shoving both hands into Mei's chest. Not an attack—a desperate push.
Run.
SCRAPE.
Heavy metal dragged against stone nearby. Dust sifted from the ceiling, thick with the stench of gunpowder and scorched iron.
In that impossible eye, Mei caught something terrifying: pure, unadulterated fear. Whatever was coming terrified the spirit.
CRUNCH.
A scarred boot crushed the rubble. The Stray Gunner stepped into the crystal light, a massive weapon resting casually over his shoulder. His eyes swept Mei, flicked to the girl, and the smirk instantly died on his face.
“…That’s new.”
The girl vanished. No flash, no sound—just gone. The crushing pressure snapped like a severed thread.
Mei stared at the empty space, her stomach dropping. Monsters had patterns. Patterns could be countered.
The unknown had no rules.
She sheathed her sword. “Then we move.”
She set a brisk pace, boots snapping against the floor: Clack. Clack. Clack.
Half a beat late, another set followed: Clack. Clack.
Cold sweat crawled down her spine. She kept her eyes locked straight ahead, forcing her breath into a steady rhythm as the sound tracked her heels.
Ahead, the corridor finally burst into warm, golden crystal light. The familiar sounds of the dungeon spilled out—shouted orders, clashing steel, distant monster roars.
She stepped into the main chamber and spun around.
Empty. No footsteps. No girl.
Yet as Mei looked back into the black passage, a cold realization settled in her chest.
The spirit hadn't attacked. It had warned her.
For the first time since her second life began, her future knowledge was useless. No memories. No patterns. Just darkness.
And for the first time, the unknown frightened her more than death.