Blink.

  Blink.

  Wolfton opened his eyes groggily.

  Hazy, he rubbed them.

  “Ugh… where am I?”

  He looked around. The last thing he remembered was being blown away by a powerful wind.

  Everyone must have been separated.

  Standing up, he stretched.

  Wolfton’s eyes were glued to the interface. The first objective was already marked, he had met two of the six people.

  But where were they?

  He looked around.

  A groan came from a nearby snow pile.

  He rushed over and began digging.

  Aurelia lay buried beneath the snow. As light touched her face, her eyes fluttered open.

  “Wolfton? I’m so glad to see you.”

  He helped her out.

  “Where are we? Where are the others?”

  “I don’t know. If not for the system, I wouldn’t have known there were two people with me,” Wolfton replied.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I got that too. Then where’s the third person? Could they be buried in the snow?”

  “Ugh, would you two pipe down?” a voice groaned. “We’re in a godforsaken dungeon.”

  Edric pushed himself up from behind a rock.

  “Oh great. I was expecting Jin or Lysandra, not a rascal like you,” Aurelia sighed.

  “Tough luck. Deal with it. Let’s move. The dungeon isn’t going to clear itself.”

  Stomp.

  Stomp.

  The ground trembled.

  Something enormous was approaching.

  A giant white bear burst into view.

  Its eyes burned red.

  Its teeth were bared.

  Its presence was feral.

  Pillar-like legs.

  Razor-sharp claws.

  It roared, shaking the cavern and rattling the icicles above. Debris rained down.

  “Seems the fun came to us,” Edric said as water swirled around his hands.

  ...

  Elsewhere,

  Jin and Lysandra moved carefully along a narrow dungeon passage.

  Cautious.

  “Where do you think the others are?” Lysandra asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jin replied. “The wind scattered us. We’re lucky we found each other. The others could be anywhere.”

  They soon encountered a small, lone white monkey.

  Its face was red.

  Its eyes glowed orange.

  It stared at them innocently.

  “Aww… what’s a cute little baby doing all alone in a dungeon?” Lysandra said, captivated.

  She reached out—

  “Don’t!” Jin yanked her back violently.

  “That’s a Frozen Red-Faced Monkey. One of the few venomous mammals.”

  “One drop of its venom could kill three *Diodon.”

  Jin swallowed.

  “What’s worse… whenever there’s one, there are more.”

  “And they love mobbing their prey.”

  The monkey continued staring.

  Then—

  Screeeeeee!

  It shrieked.

  Jin and Lysandra covered their ears.

  One by one, more monkeys emerged.

  From behind rocks.

  From walls.

  From beneath snow piles.

  In seconds, the passage was flooded.

  On a raised pedestal stood a larger one, the leader.

  Its white fur flowed like a lion’s mane.

  A necklace of bones and teeth rested proudly on its chest.

  In its hand was a staff made of bones, topped with a skull of an unknown beast.

  It beat its chest and howled.

  Then it pointed its staff at them.

  The horde responded in unison.

  And charged.

  Like a raging flood.

  “Run!!!”

  ...

  Grrrrrrrrr

  A Were-vampire charged at Raven.

  He met it head-on.

  Red tendrils shot out from its body.

  I thought they all had shadow powers…

  Raven skidded aside, barely avoiding the attack.

  From his earlier fight, and from watching Saeyeon, he knew one thing:

  Decapitation was the only way.

  He lunged.

  The Were-vampire responded with more tendrils.

  “Seventh Stance: Flash Slash!”

  Raven moved before the tendrils could adjust.

  Flash Slash was a pure-speed technique. A single draw-and-sheath motion. The strike landed before sound could follow. No correction. No second chance.

  The Were-vampire collapsed.

  Its head rolled across the snow.

  “Hey, Fenrir,” Camila smirked. “We can’t let those two have all the fun, can we?”

  “I’d rather let them,” Fenrir muttered, trembling.

  “Stay close. I’ll protect you.”

  Mirrors materialized around her.

  A Were-vampire rushed in.

  It saw its reflection

  And the reflection stepped out.

  White-furred. Perfectly identical.

  The two clashed.

  Claws against claws.

  Fangs against fangs.

  But the reflected one slowly gained the upper hand.

  Camila’s ability:

  Saeyeon continued her massacre.

  To others, she was a reaper.

  To the beasts, death itself.

  Her expression never changed.

  Cold.

  Unfeeling.

  “Witness the might of the Goth Reaper.”