Silence gradually settled over the equipment shop.
The unconscious players remained scattered across the wooden floor while broken shelves leaned at awkward angles, their contents strewn everywhere. Glass shards glittered beneath the afternoon sunlight pouring through the shattered storefront window.
Ryota slowly exhaled.
Only after the adrenaline faded did he properly take in the scene around him.
"..."
He rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed smile.
"...We made a mess."
The elderly shopkeeper slowly emerged from behind the counter, still visibly trembling. His hands shook as he looked between the unconscious troublemakers and the young adventurers standing quietly in the center of his ruined store.
Ryota immediately bowed.
"I'm sorry."
The old shopkeeper blinked.
Ryota kept his head lowered.
"I know we were trying to stop them..."
"...but your shop still ended up damaged because of the fight."
He glanced toward the broken shelves.
"I'll help pay for everything."
Before the elderly NPC could answer—
Fayzan casually stepped forward.
"It's fine."
He opened his interface and navigated through several menus with practiced familiarity.
Moments later, a magical payment contract materialized above the counter.
A golden seal shimmered across the document.
Fayzan signed it with a single touch.
"There."
The contract floated gently toward the old shopkeeper.
"Eternity Lions will cover all repair expenses."
Ryota looked at him.
"...Seriously?"
Fayzan laughed.
"Don't worry about it."
He shrugged as though it were nothing.
"Elias is used to me trashing things."
Ryota stared.
"...That doesn't sound reassuring."
"It isn't."
Fayzan grinned shamelessly.
"I've accidentally destroyed training grounds."
"Practice arenas."
"One guild meeting room."
"...and half a warehouse."
Ryota raised an eyebrow.
"Half?"
"The other half survived."
"...Somehow."
Even Ramos couldn't stop himself from laughing.
The elderly shopkeeper looked down at the payment contract.
His eyes widened.
The compensation wasn't merely enough to repair the building.
It was enough to renovate it entirely.
The old man's expression softened.
Slowly...
He bowed deeply.
"...Thank you."
His voice trembled.
"You protected us..."
"...and still chose to compensate us."
Ryota smiled awkwardly.
"It was the right thing to do."
The old shopkeeper nodded repeatedly.
"It was."
"It truly was."
After one final exchange of thanks, the three quietly left the shop.
Outside, the village had already begun returning to normal.
Players whispered among themselves after witnessing the fight.
Several NPCs cautiously peeked from behind their windows.
The frightened atmosphere remained...
But there was now something else mixed into it.
Hope.
Ramos walked between the two young men.
"...That was intense."
Fayzan stretched his shoulders.
"I've had worse."
Ryota chuckled.
"I somehow believe that."
The conversation gradually shifted back toward their original objective.
The hidden dungeon.
South of Espana Village.
Near the Sandy Oasis.
The three left the village through its southern gate.
As civilization slowly disappeared behind them, the endless desert opened before their eyes once again.
Golden dunes rolled endlessly toward the horizon.
Warm winds carried loose grains of sand through the air.
Occasionally, dried shrubs and weathered stone formations interrupted the otherwise endless sea of gold.
After nearly forty minutes of walking...
The landscape finally changed.
A small oasis appeared ahead.
Crystal-clear water reflected the afternoon sky while several date palms swayed gently in the desert breeze.
Beside the oasis—
stood a weathered stone tablet.
Its surface had been carved with symbols unlike anything Ryota had ever seen.
The carvings were ancient.
Smooth from countless years of erosion.
Yet every line remained strangely distinct.
"...This must be it."
Ryota approached carefully.
Ramos stepped beside him first.
The elderly NPC narrowed his eyes while studying the symbols.
"Hmm..."
Several long moments passed.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"...I can't read it."
Ryota looked surprised.
"You've lived in Floor Two your whole life."
"I have."
Ramos sighed.
"But this language predates even the oldest records of Espana."
Fayzan crossed his arms.
"Let me try."
He leaned closer.
"...Nope."
"Looks like decorative scratches to me."
Ryota frowned thoughtfully.
He raised his menu.
"...Rio might know."
With a quick gesture, he activated his camera function.
A soft click echoed through the quiet oasis.
The ancient tablet was captured perfectly.
Ryota immediately sent the photograph through the private guild message system.
To: Rio
Found the stone tablet near the Sandy Oasis. Any idea what this says?
The reply arrived almost instantly.
Ryota blinked.
"...Already?"
He opened the message.
Sorry!
I completely forgot to mention that part.
Ryota smiled.
"...Sounds like Rio."
He continued reading.
Don't worry.
You're not supposed to understand it.
In my previous life, it took almost four months for researchers across multiple guilds to decipher it.
Ryota's eyes widened.
"...Four months?"
Fayzan leaned over.
"What?"
Ryota continued reading aloud.
The inscription isn't one language.
It's several ancient languages from different regions fused together into a single sentence.
Even Ramos looked genuinely astonished.
"...Someone intentionally made it impossible to read."
A second message arrived.
Translation:
"When the sun's pure breath strikes the hidden soul of the stone, the ancient gates of the dark shall wake and turn."
Ryota read the sentence aloud.
Silence followed.
Fayzan scratched his head.
"...That explained absolutely nothing."
Ramos slowly nodded.
"I somehow understand even less now."
Ryota laughed quietly.
"Guess we'll find out."
The three exchanged determined looks.
Then they turned toward the nearby cave entrance.
Cool air drifted outward from the darkness.
The tunnel stretched several dozen meters inward before opening into a circular chamber.
Waiting at its center—
stood an enormous stone door.
It was unlike any ordinary dungeon entrance.
Ancient carvings covered its surface from top to bottom.
Above the doorway...
Embedded within the surrounding rock...
A single crystal-like stone reflected the afternoon sunlight filtering through a narrow crack in the cave ceiling.
It shimmered brilliantly.
Like the eye of something that had been waiting...
For countless centuries.
The three silently stared at it.
None of them realized...
They had just arrived at the threshold of one of Floor Two's greatest secrets.
Silence lingered inside the ancient cave.
The enormous stone door stood unmoving before the three adventurers, its weathered surface covered in symbols that had survived countless centuries. Dust clung to every carved groove while thin roots crept through cracks in the surrounding rock.
Ryota folded his arms.
His eyes remained fixed on the translation Rio had sent him.
When the sun's pure breath strikes the hidden soul of the stone, the ancient gates of the dark shall wake and turn.
"...Sun's pure breath..."
He quietly repeated the words.
Across from him, Fayzan also stared at the ancient doorway.
His brows furrowed.
He slowly rubbed his chin.
"...Sun's breath..."
"What does that even mean?"
His voice echoed softly through the cave.
"It doesn't sound like a normal sentence."
Ramos had already given up trying to decipher the inscription.
The elderly NPC sighed before sitting down on a nearby rock.
A moment later he simply stretched his legs out and leaned back against the cave wall.
"...These ancient people certainly liked making everything complicated."
Ryota smiled faintly.
"They definitely did."
Ramos glanced toward him.
"...Should we just ask Lady Rio?"
"We're stuck."
"I don't think she'd mind."
Ryota instinctively reached toward his guild menu.
His finger hovered above Rio's name.
Then...
He slowly lowered his hand.
"...No."
Fayzan looked at him.
"...Why not?"
Ryota smiled.
"Rio's probably drowning in paperwork right now."
He remembered leaving the headquarters earlier that morning.
Stacks of reports.
NPC assignments.
Guild management.
Recruitment records.
Quest approvals.
She had barely looked away from her desk.
He chuckled to himself.
"...She trusted me with this."
"I want to solve it myself."
Ramos nodded approvingly.
"That's fair."
Silence returned once more.
Ryota slowly walked around the cave entrance.
His eyes wandered across every detail.
The doorway.
The crystal embedded above it.
The crack in the ceiling.
The sunlight shining outside.
Every piece had to mean something.
He replayed Rio's message inside his mind.
Several ancient languages fused into one sentence.
Which meant...
Every word had probably been chosen carefully.
Sun.
Breath.
Stone.
Hidden soul.
He closed his eyes.
Thinking.
Searching.
Trying to imagine how the builders themselves would have described sunlight thousands of years ago.
Then—
His eyes suddenly snapped open.
"...Wait."
Fayzan looked over.
"What?"
Ryota immediately turned toward the cave entrance.
Outside...
The afternoon sun blazed brilliantly over the oasis.
Golden light spilled across the desert.
His heart began racing.
"The sun's breath..."
He whispered.
"...It's sunlight."
Ramos blinked.
"...What?"
Ryota didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he hurried outside.
Fayzan and Ramos quickly followed behind him.
The warm desert air greeted them once more.
Ryota looked upward.
The angle of the sun...
Perfect.
He immediately opened his inventory.
A flash of blue particles appeared.
Instead of the simple beginner weapon Fayzan remembered...
A beautifully crafted sword materialized in Ryota's hand.
Its polished blade reflected the desert sunlight like a mirror.
The guard carried elegant silver engravings, while the scabbard had clearly been forged by an experienced craftsman.
Fayzan blinked.
"...Hold on."
He looked at the sword.
Then back at Ryota.
"...That's new."
Ryota smiled while positioning the blade toward the cave entrance.
"Yeah."
"Rio bought it for me."
Fayzan tilted his head.
"When?"
"After everything that happened with Burning Pride..."
"...and Eternity Lions."
Fayzan nodded slowly.
"...Looks expensive."
Ryota laughed.
"It probably was."
He carefully adjusted the angle.
The blade caught the afternoon sunlight.
A brilliant beam reflected from its polished surface.
He slowly redirected the light toward the crystal embedded above the stone doorway.
The instant the light struck—
The crystal illuminated.
Not softly.
Violently.
Golden light erupted throughout the cave.
Ancient runes carved into the doorway awakened one after another.
Lines of brilliant white spread across the stone like flowing rivers.
The entire mountain trembled.
RUMBLE...
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Small rocks rolled across the ground.
Ramos instinctively stepped backward.
"...It worked..."
The enormous stone door groaned.
Ancient gears hidden deep within the mountain slowly began turning for the first time in centuries.
GRRRRRRRRRR...
The sound echoed endlessly through the cave system.
Then...
The massive doorway slowly split apart.
Cold air poured outward from the darkness beyond.
The hidden passage had finally opened.
For several moments...
None of them spoke.
Fayzan slowly let out a whistle.
"...Okay."
"...That was awesome."
Ryota smiled.
"I guess Rio was right."
Ramos stared into the darkness beyond the doorway.
"...We're really going inside..."
Without another word...
The three cautiously stepped beyond the ancient entrance.
The air immediately became colder.
Older.
The passage stretched deep beneath the earth.
Stone walls surrounded them on every side.
Ancient torch holders lined the corridor, though none had burned for ages.
Spider webs hung from the ceiling like ghostly curtains.
Every few steps...
Another skeleton rested against the wall.
Some still held rusted swords.
Others clutched broken shields.
Many looked as though they had collapsed while trying to escape.
The deeper they walked...
The quieter everything became.
Eventually...
The narrow corridor widened into a circular chamber.
Ryota slowly stopped walking.
"...Four doors..."
Each doorway bore a different ancient emblem carved into the stone.
The room itself felt strangely untouched by time.
Then—
A faint crack echoed behind them.
Fayzan turned.
"...Did you hear that?"
Another crack.
Then another.
One of the skeletons lying against the wall slowly twitched.
Ryota's expression changed instantly.
"...Get ready."
A crimson light suddenly flooded the chamber.
The runes covering the walls ignited.
One by one...
The skeletons rose to their feet.
Empty eye sockets filled with burning red flames.
Ancient swords scraped against the stone floor.
The chamber's peaceful silence vanished.
It had become a battlefield.