A trio of newcomer explorers, who had obtained their licenses only a month prior, were beginning to feel that something was off about the dungeon today. As they followed the shortest route from the first floor to the second, they noticed drop items left scattered along the path.
It was not uncommon for an explorer to leave things behind once their carrying capacity reached its limit, but this was different.
"...Hey, look at this. Another one? It’s a medicinal item. Why would anyone leave this behind?"
One of the newcomers picked up a recovery potion from the center of the path, looking at his companions with a bewildered expression.
"Maybe a high-level explorer killed a monster and got a drop they didn't have room for?"
"I mean, that's possible, but we're still on the first floor. And if you take the shortest route, the exit isn't even that far from here."
The explorer glanced back the way they had come.
"If they really were high-level, they wouldn't be so weighed down that they couldn't fit a single small vial into their pack... right?"
"Probably not. Besides, it’s not like they're leaving behind minotaur meat or Core Crystals, which have crashed in price. This is a medicinal item—those still fetch a decent amount. Even if they were just starting their run, why would they leave something that could be a high-value rare?"
"We definitely wouldn't leave it..."
While unidentified medicinal drops carried the risk of being poisonous, they were worth a fortune if they turned out to be high-grade recovery potions. To these rookies, the idea of abandoning potential treasure was incomprehensible.
The three of them stared at the small vial. After a shared look and a series of brief nods, their leader tucked the item into his bag.
"A-Alright! We’ll have this appraised later. If it’s a recovery potion, we split the gold three ways, got it?"
"Yeah, sounds good!"
"Someone else threw it away, so finders keepers!"
The three of them tried to sound confident, convincing themselves there was nothing wrong with their logic as they thought of their meager savings. They resumed their trek down the passage, sticking to the shortest route to the lower floors.
They hadn't walked much further when they found exactly what they had been secretly hoping for, lying right in the middle of the path.
"H-Hey... is that...?"
"No way..."
"It can't be..."
"A skill scroll!"
Dropping all pretense of caution, they rushed toward the scroll. Their hands trembled with nervous excitement as they picked it up. They looked at each other and let out a collective roar.
"HELL YEAH!"
They thrust their fists into the air, shouting for joy.
"Are you kidding me? I didn't want to get my hopes up, but it’s actually a skill scroll!"
"It’s real! It’s really a skill scroll!"
"I don't know who did this, but they must be insane. Who leaves a skill scroll just sitting on the floor?"
After a long bout of bewildered celebration, they stuffed the scroll into their bag. Their expressions were now twisted with naked greed as they hurried forward.
"Move it! There might be more treasure ahead!"
"You're right! We have to get it before someone else does!"
"Whoever's leaving these must be taking the shortest route down. If we follow the trail, we'll find more!"
"Do you know the way?"
"Yeah, I’ve got it!"
"Then lead on! Let’s go!"
Blinded by the sight of a discarded skill scroll, they sprinted deeper into the dungeon. They didn't stop to consider how dangerous their actions were.
Driven by avarice, they followed the breadcrumb trail of drop items, passing through monster-free zones as they took the most direct path into the depths. By the time they finally came to their senses, they had wandered into a floor far beyond the capabilities of a rookie party.
"H-Hey... what do we do now?"
"What do you think? We have to go back!"
The three of them turned pale as the reality of their situation sank in.
They tried to retreat the way they came, jumping at every shadow, but they weren't so lucky. They were ambushed by monsters on the return trip. After a desperate struggle against enemies that far outmatched them, they managed to escape the dungeon by the skin of their teeth, battered and bruised. They sold the items they had scavenged to buy enough mid-grade recovery potions for the group, but the trauma was permanent. The trio ended up returning their permits and retiring from the explorer life for good.
In another part of the dungeon, another party was resting after a battle. They had left their least-injured members on watch while the others tended to their wounds with recovery potions. Suddenly, the sound of rhythmic footsteps reached them from down the hall. The sentries tensed, leveling their weapons toward the sound. The others stopped their maintenance and first aid, bracing for a fight.
"Steady, everyone. Sounds like more than one," the party leader whispered, his voice low enough only for his comrades to hear.
The members gave curt, quiet acknowledgments, staring into the pitch-black tunnel.
"...Wait. Is that light?"
"Yeah... does that mean it's people?"
As the footsteps drew closer, the darkness at the end of the passage began to glow. Realizing the newcomers were human rather than monsters, the party felt a brief moment of relief.
But it didn't last.
"Don't lower your guard yet. We don't know if they're hostile."
"Right. Last thing we need is an ambush while we're resting."
"Could be PK bastards looking for an easy score. Anyway..."
The leader took a deep breath and called out toward the approaching light.
"Hey! You guys running this way! If you aren't looking for a fight, stop right there!"
The footsteps halted immediately. Unexpected encounters between parties in a dungeon were rarely beneficial, especially given the risk of player killing. Ever since PK incidents had started making the news, it had become an unspoken rule for explorers to maintain distance and communicate verbally before approaching.
The fact that they had obeyed the command to stop was a good sign.
"Whew... At least they didn't just charge us."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they aren't PKers. Keep your eyes open."
Just as they were starting to relax, a response came from the darkness.
"Sorry if we gave you a scare! We’ll pass along the left wall, nice and slow!"
"Got it! We'll stick to the other side!"
True to their word, the light shifted to the left side of the passage and began to approach at a walking pace. Soon, the two groups were within sight of one another.
The resting party froze, their faces twitching with a mix of tension and pure shock as the light revealed the newcomers.
"Sorry to startle you. We’ve got business on the lower floors, so we're in a bit of a rush," one of the newcomers said.
"Ah—no, it's fine. Don't mind us," the leader stammered.
"Is that so? Well, sorry again. We'll be heading out now."
"Y-Yes, sir."
The party watched in a silence that was far heavier than their usual wariness of PKers. They waited until the newcomers had vanished beyond the reach of their lights before finally letting out a collective breath.
"God... that was intense. What was that? They were scarier than any monster I've ever seen."
"Yeah. The gear was one thing, but that aura... they looked like people you absolutely do not want to cross."
The party members looked at each other in silence for a long moment before someone finally voiced what they were all thinking.
"Why the hell was the mafia in the middle of a dungeon...?"
The equipment those people had been wearing looked brand-new, without a single scratch, but their presence had been overwhelming. It felt as if any sign of hostility would have resulted in being crushed instantly, without even a chance to resist. No one doubted for a second that they would have been wiped out in heartbeats if a fight had broken out.
As they sat there with their backs against the wall, drained by the encounter, a chorus of monster roars erupted from the direction the other group had gone.
"What now!?"
"Monster cries! They're in a fight!"
"That sounds like a lot of them... it’s a massive pack!"
"There must have been nearly ten of them waiting ahead."
"Ten!? That's suicide! If those guys get wiped out, the monsters are coming for us next!"
They jumped to their feet, terrified for the people they had just met and even more terrified for themselves.
But then...
"...Wait. Did the noise stop?"
"Yeah... I don't hear anything."
The cacophony of roars that had been loud enough to make their ears ring just moments ago had vanished as if cut off by a switch.
Then, a new sensation arrived.
"Ugh, the smell of blood..."
A thick, metallic scent wafted down the passage.
The leader swallowed his fear and looked at his team.
"...Let’s go. We need to see what happened."
With grim expressions, the members nodded. They advanced with extreme caution, bracing for an ambush, but what they found left them speechless.
The passage was littered with the bodies of monsters. Most had been decapitated; their headless trunks were still standing upright, twitching and spraying geysers of crimson blood.
"Ugh...!"
The floor was a literal sea of blood. As explorers, they were used to violence, but they had never seen anything this gruesome or efficient. The members clutched their throats, fighting the urge to vomit at the sheer stench of gore.
"What... what is this...?" the leader managed to choke out, his eyes darting away from the carnage.
After a few moments, the spray of blood slowed, and the upright corpses finally toppled over, dissolving into particles of light. A wealth of drop items remained—skill scrolls, rare gems, and more—but no one moved to touch them. They simply turned and walked away with heavy steps, their hands still over their mouths.
The events of that single afternoon left a lasting mark on many explorers. Some were captivated by the display of power and found new inspiration; some accepted their own weakness and worked harder; some grew bitter at the gap between them; and others, faced with the brutal reality of the depths, chose to retire.
As for the explorers responsible for the chaos, they were reportedly in high spirits after securing their targets—bear fur and a bonus of marbled minotaur meat—at least until they reached the locker room.