Chapter 147
Evan
I've been walking in this dungeon for hours.
What's going on?
It's merely B-rank. I've cleared B-rank dungeons before—dozens of them. They're straightforward. Predictable. You go in, you fight monsters, you find the core, you leave.
This one is different.
The forest is endless. No matter how far I walk, the trees look the same. The same gnarled branches, the same pale light filtering through leaves that don't move, the same thick silence pressing in from all sides.
And I haven't come across a single monster.
Not one.
I stop, listening. Nothing. No birds, no insects, no rustle of leaves. Just my own breathing and the soft crunch of dead leaves under my boots.
Something is wrong.
I groan and keep walking. Standing still won't get me anywhere.
The trees thin slightly, and I catch a glimpse of what might be a clearing ahead. I pick up my pace, hand on my sword, ready—
Something whistles past my ear.
