Chapter 17: Strange Rumors

I spent quite a bit of time in the misery of my grief that I missed the rumors spreading amongst the hunters and the public chat rooms. I had heard the association launched a hunter forum for association members only, but in my fuzzy new outlook on life I had not taken the time to browse it.

I would often browse the familiar rooms from my previous life, but this time around, with the influence of the others I did not know, something about the dungeons was changing. The changes in the dungeons were happening more rapidly and not even I could predict what would happen next.

I finally forced myself to get up and leave my apartment in the housing dorm. I did not go to the bulletin board or to where various requests for materials were posted. I went directly to the dungeon and lined up.

"I heard they saw her the very next time they were in the dungeon."

"No, that is not something that could happen, right?"

Normally, I would ignore the excited chatter of the new hunters as I waited for the line to finally allow me to enter the dungeon, but this time their conversation sparked a question I could not help but ask myself.

"Well anyway, we will just stay on the first level. It is basically a beginner area. No way we will die there."

No, keep talking about that last part. I found myself reaching to get the attention of the young girl in front of me, but stopped myself at the last moment. My mind went straight to the image of Kei dying in front of me. However, she could mean anything. It could be a humanoid monster for all I knew.

Before I could make up my mind the pair that had been talking disappeared into the dungeon lobby. Gritting my teeth for not making a decision sooner, I quickly stepped out of line and made my way to a small cafe across the street.

It was a popular hangout for hunters who were looking to get a small snack before or after diving into the dungeon. I moved to a small private room in the back. It was cramped but offered a small bit of privacy away from the noisy room.

I pulled out my phone and opened the chatrooms and forums. The usual discussions appeared before me. The best gear and basic information on the dungeons around me. I frowned and moved to the next forum. Those hunters from before barely seemed outfitted enough to have much experience in the dungeon. It couldn't be that hard to find this rumor.

It was on the seventh website that I began finding mention of the strange sightings in the dungeon. It all started with the announcement from the official association website about the second floor of Silver City Dungeon. I had not been fast enough to stop the carnage on that floor.

Reports of several missing, presumed dead, hunters and a memorial of the lost youth. It was there I found a strange comment with a link to a photo. A photo of one of the missing hunters from before.

'This article is a joke. I found one of the hunters roaming about the changed second floor just yesterday. Photo in the link below.'

'Your just trying to start up trouble. The photo is obviously photoshopped. It is not even clear.'

'Ha. You say that, but everyone knows that other people can't just show up in your instance. Stop trolling.'

'Guys… I saw her too. jk jk.'

I could not find any more information than the several lines of comments. The picture was blurry, and the figure in it seemed paler than she was in the photo of the memorial. I found more mentions of similar instances on other sites and somehow I just knew that there might be some kind of truth to the claims.

Just as the strange figure in the dungeon from before had reported, the dungeon changed after that day. It was easier to beat, and as long as you had some good sense you could defeat the tiger boss on that floor pretty easily. A new floor had yet to appear in that dungeon despite the fact that several people had defeated the floor by now.

On boss floors, no other monster should spawn there. Usually if the boss has minions they would spawn every time you went to the floor, but very few people saw these figures when they went in and not every time.

The discussion about them led to a theory that they were a rare spawn like in a video game. However, each time someone approached the figures they disappeared. Some called them the ghosts of the people who had given their life to the dungeon.

In my past life there were definitely ghost dungeons. They were rare and, unless you had a certain skill set, you could not even hope to conquer such dungeons. I had also never heard of an outbreak from those types of dungeons. They were listed under safe and not put on any official watch or clear lists.

If I remembered correctly the ghosts in those dungeons did not take on human shapes either. They were like the monsters in regular dungeons, only they were in some kind of other form that appeared like a ghost. You could always get rare materials from them so the guild always had a standing request for those materials.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. If they were ghosts it would do no good. No one came back after dying in the dungeon. No one. There was no point in hoping that Kei could come back and the guilt of not being able to save him would be lifted from my shoulders. No, I would have to keep that guilt for the rest of my life.

I stretched my shoulders and finished off the cup of tea I had ordered and approached the dungeon one more time. The line was shorter now so I did not have to wait long. I stepped into the circle and the familiar light engulfed me and deposited me into the spacious white room I had grown used to.

The system greeted me. Lately, no matter what question I asked the system it would only show me that strange text and then revert back to the regular screen.

"System, is there any way to bring back someone who died in the dungeon." It was a stupid request, but if it said no then I would just move on.

[Yes.]

What? My heart began beating heavily in my chest.

"System, how do I bring back someone who died in the dungeon."

[Loading… Player does not have enough access. Access denied.]

The familiar green text on the screen was now blue. As if the system itself had changed with this question.

"System, what do I need to do to get access?" It couldn't hurt to ask. The worst it could do is show me that strange text again.

[Silly player. Did you think that I would make it that easy? :D]

Wait a minute… My brain couldn't process what was happening.

"Who am I speaking to?" I held my breath while I watched the lines pop up one at a time.

[Shouldn't you be grinding in the dungeon, instead of asking silly questions?]

[It is boring when you do not entertain me.]

[I think I will keep my identity hidden until I am entertained more.]

The screen blanked out and the original screen popped up again. Cold sweat had formed and I shivered involuntarily. A strong presence came from the screen just now. It was like the feeling of coming across a monster that you knew would kill you.

The same feeling I had in my last life just before it ended. I knew that this being, whoever they were, had caused me to come back. A mix of emotions fought to gain control of my mind. I felt sick to my stomach and the room spun around me.

"Why…?" The question came out of my mouth, but the screen no longer changed. In fact the map was blinking in the corner of the screen as if taunting me.

It was obvious that I needed to click on the map so I touched the icon and saw a new tower pop up. A tower that had not been there in my previous life. I clicked on the tower and looked at the description.

[The Hidden Tower: Unknown to most and unreachable without the help of the system. Player Kai Richards has been invited to the Hidden Tower. Difficulty Extreme.]

What the hell? How does this person expect me to go to a tower on a difficulty I have never even heard of before? I exited the screen immediately. An inaudible laugh entered my mind and I looked around the room with wide eyes.

[Entering Silver City Dungeon 2nd Floor.]

Wait?! I didn't even choose that dungeon. I didn't even have time to back away when the light deposited me into the familiar jungle of my nightmares.