"Not so fast, munchachos!" The man released his bolt to Yung Jae.
The bolt pierced the wind and jolted fast, whistling. It scratched Yung Jae's cheek while he jumped at the waterfall.
As he flew down, a chill wind hampered him and blurred his Vision. He saw how the water came closer every second, doubling his heartbeat.
He plunged into the water with a thunderous splash, then the water claimed him.
Inside the water, glowing jelly around him helped him regain his vision.
A thousand tiny bubbles surrounded Yung Jae as he tried to ascend.
There was a shrouded noise as an arrow pierced the water and slowed down by the current. Two of them hit Yung Jae but did nothing to him. It was like a poke on his brow.
Slowly, he ascended from the water, and a strong current washed him to an unknown distance.
The shout of his pursuers came from the pitch darkness above.
"Where is he?!"
"Just shoot him!"
"Is he dead?"
The voice went soothing and soothing until the gurgling river replaced it entirely.
He survived for now.
On the stream river, Yung Jae struggled to regain control as his swimming skill was abysmal.
Water charged in his mouth, nose, and eyes, yet he was still conscious.
The cold river tried to kill him, tried to drown him, wanted to claim him, yet he was not giving up and kicking the water, flapping and yapping.
He felt like an old sponge used to clean the whole car, then tossed away to the sewer.
Yung Jae forced himself to the riverside. With life at stake and adrenaline fueling his soul, he made little progress. With a bittersweet of luck, he snapped something and brought himself there.
A branch on his chest saved him, and he curled on it. His waist was beneath the river. He coughed water and exhaled.
"Oh god, oh god. Thanks."
As he regained his consciousness, he looked around. Above him was a tall cliff, and he could see the top of the forest, then a Milky Way with a thousand stars. At his back, darkness, same on his front.
On the shore, many fireflies were dangling, playing, and shining, but none of them could lend him a hand. At least they gave him a light.
The branch that helped him was not the strongest branch he had ever seen, but it was his only hope. The branch was full of slippery moss, and it had been stuck between two large stone rivers, creating a bridge between them.
Yung Jae gave his best to grip the branch while moving himself onto the shore little by little. Many times, his palm slipped, but he turned on the grip again. Slowly but steadily, he came to the shore.
Cracked on the branch triggered him. It can't hold him any longer. "No, no, no, no, no! Please, no!"
He hurried his move to the shore. Sadly, it made the crack strong as the branch couldn't hold him any longer
The branch betrayed him. It tore two, But he kept gripping the branch while the current strong river washed him away.
He was tired, but he kept trying to survive. He was not giving up. But the luck was abandoned him. Maybe death was better than all of this. Oh, death, he can't believe his mind fell for disgusting, though! He will never surrender or die.
"Not today…."
As the river's flow carried the branch, Yung Jae noticed something.
A hole in the hillside sucked water and anything like a vacuum cleaner head.
He tried not to let himself be sucked in the dark and mysterious holes, who knew what was inside. A dragon, perhaps? A snake? A void.
"Shit!" with his loud voice, he was drawn to the hole and fell. He splashed and plunged into the deep water. There, a stone glowed blue, the mushroom with greenweed, and many strange fish with antene welcomed him.
Strange warm water shrouded him, but he used his last stamina to go up to the strangely vibrant color.
He gasped as his face felt the wind again. A gulped and splash of waterfall dominated, but there was no way out. He was surrounded by a stone moss wall that glowed green shot.
With the smelt of the river on his entire body, he limped forward and hit the shore. He knelt, with palms on puddled, coughing, and threw out everything from inside his belly. He crawled to the side of the wall like a wet dog.
He sat on the stone, leaning on the wall. He exhaled and composed himself as the warm gust soothed his skin. He thanked god many times.
After recovering, Yung Jae scanned the surroundings and tried to find something useful.
No one here except himself. There was no hole up there, which he could use, only the hole he came from on the wall and no way he could swim back there.
Perhaps there was another hole below the water. It shone there, but there was a darkness, one in the middle, and he didn't know where the hole might lead and was already done with water.
No more wet, not today.
His look was locked on the left side of the natural stone wall.
There was a gigantic marble stone door of a Greek temple framed at the cave wall. It had a gold-grilled knob door, and two ancient stone pillars became its arm, lingering with vines and moss. Strange, it glowed vanille.
He wanted nothing from the door for now. He wished to return to the city, log out, and call it a day.
Yung Jae tried to send a message to his friends, but strangely, he failed. There was a strange message popup that said it was out of bounds.
"What?"
He never knew and never found himself with strange messengers before. He tried to message Natasya, but it said out of bounds.
He usually could message his friends and his party members.
He checked the log-out button. It gone. Not only grey out but completely gone.
His hand trembled as his mind clouded with uncertainty. "Oh my god, what is going on here?"
He was trapped here like a mouse. His way out was to dive into the hole, or he could jolt into the strange door. Beside was a chest that contained unconventional weapons and was equipped with unknown glitched words on the description.
He remembered the shape of the armor and sword. It is Hellburugh set for level 500 players.
"Why is it in this chest?"
And it had glitched so hard that Yung Jae could wear it. "Huh, better than nothing. At least I have something to defend myself."
Slowly, he moved to the door and tapped the warm, thick door wing. It swung open with a crack, and dust dripped from above. There was a warm vanilla light came out from inside the door.
A light that welcomed him with a shower of mystery and made him shiver in his spine.
The panel popped up. It was a typical window panel on blurred grey shown on every dungeon in The World.
Typically, it consisted of information about the dungeon itself, its level, and what rare loot that player might have after clearing it out. But now… it was different.
________
Dungeon: Missing text missing text
Level: 0
Description: Missing text missing text
Reward: Missing text missing text
________
"What the heck? What is it?" He can't read anything in the description or the title. It glitched out. Many strange symbols pop out from the panel.
He tried not to spoff out from everything and tried to find an explanation. He tried to make an explanation for himself.
"Maybe it was part of the event?" He sighed. He remembers the grand opening event at night that Natasya mentioned earlier. Perhaps this was a Game Master's work to delete the logout button and show some glitches.
Probably, it was part of it. He was sure of it. They add a flavor for players to enjoy.
"It had bad taste, pal. A bad taste in my life," He smirked.
So now, his choice was between two mysteries?
Since his swimming skill was absurdly bad, he decided to step into the dungeon. Who knew he might find an item to show off to Natasya and his friends?
"Okay, here we go."
He stepped into the dungeon, and the light claimed him.