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[20ps]
The Guild’s Grand Hall—normally a place of paperwork, lines, and tired adventurers—had transford overnight into a war room.
Maps of the Dungeon’s middle floors covered the tables. Magical projections shimred in the air, displaying visual reconstructions of warped terrain and lted walls. Grim faces surrounded them—veterans of past crises, leaders of great Familias, and Orario’s top strategists.
The air was tight with tension. Every whisper, every glance, felt sharp.
And in the middle of it all stood soone completely unexpected.
Ethan.
Level 2.
A newcor, barely recognized by most in the room.
All eyes turned toward him, a mix of curiosity and skepticism.
"...So this is the kid who made the report?" muttered a man in heavy black armor—Gareth, captain of Loki Familia’s second squad.
A voice scoffed nearby. "No offense, but bringing a Level 2 into this kind of eting? Bit reckless, don’t you think?"
Murmurs of agreent echoed from others—senior mbers of Hephaestus Familia, Ganesha Familia, even Astraea Familia.
Ethan stood firm, hands at his sides, his back straight. He t their gazes evenly.
"I don’t need your approval," he said calmly. "I’m just here to tell you what I saw."
Guild advisor Eina Tulle stepped forward beside him. "He was the first to report the anomalies. And I reviewed the damage personally. His party barely survived. He deserves to be heard."
"Level aside," added Finn Deimne, voice asured but commanding, "he has more firsthand knowledge than any of us."
That silenced the room.
Ethan stepped toward the map and pointed to the fifteenth floor.
"There was sothing there. Not just monsters. Sothing watching us. Intelligent. Powerful. The Dungeon itself felt... wrong."
He moved his hand over the projection. "Walls lted. Tremors ca from deeper. I’ve fought a mutant Minotaur before—and this pressure was worse."
Gareth folded his arms. "You sure it wasn’t just fear?"
"No," Ethan said. "I’ve felt fear. This was different."
Riveria Ljos Alf studied him with her piercing green eyes. "Tell ... did this pressure feel magical? Like a divine aura?"
Ethan paused, then nodded. "It wasn’t divine... but it was close. Twisted. Almost alive."
That made even the most skeptical adventurers fall into silence.
Ottar, silent until now, spoke from the far end of the table.
"He’s telling the truth."
Heads turned.
Freya Familia’s captain rarely spoke at etings unless absolutely necessary. But his voice carried weight heavier than steel.
"I watched him in the Dungeon. He did not falter. He did not lie."
So frowned. Others looked surprised.
Even Loki squinted at Ottar, then turned to Ethan with an unreadable smirk.
"Tch... guess you’re more than a pretty face after all."
The Plan
Finn stepped forward.
"We suspect the Dungeon is undergoing an evolutionary shift," he said. "We don’t know the trigger, or how deep it goes. But based on this adventurer’s report—and similar accounts—we believe a mutation zone is forming near the eighteenth floor and spreading upward."
Riveria nodded. "We’ll be forming multiple squads. Only Level 4 and above... with one exception."
She looked at Ethan. "We’d like you to join. Not to fight—but to guide. You’ve seen what’s down there."
So looked shocked. Others disapproved silently.
Ethan didn’t hesitate.
"I’ll do it."
After the eting
The sun had nearly set as adventurers trickled out of the Guild.
Ethan stepped into the cool dusk, his mind still reeling.
So many powerful people. So much weight on his words.
"I didn’t think they’d listen," he muttered.
Lili appeared from the shadows, her pack slung behind her. "They didn’t want to. But they had to."
He nodded.
A familiar voice cut through the air.
"Looks like you made quite the impression."
Ethan turned—Syr stood there, her soft smile unreadable.
But her eyes flickered with sothing deeper. Amusent? Curiosity?
Or sothing far more dangerous.
"You’re climbing quickly, Ethan," she said. "Everyone’s watching you now."
He stiffened slightly, but kept his expression neutral. "I didn’t ask for that."
"Of course you didn’t," she whispered. "But it doesn’t matter. Fate has a habit of finding the interesting ones."
Before he could reply, she turned and walked away, her silver hair catching the light like moonlight.
Lili frowned. "There’s sothing off about that girl."
"Yeah," Ethan said quietly. "There is."
In the Depths
Far beneath Orario, in the deepest parts of the Dungeon, a heartbeat echoed.
Sothing ancient was awakening.
It had watched the eting.
It had felt Ethan’s presence.
And it rembered sothing.
Not from this world...
...but from another.
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