The air in the new world was incredibly fresh, carrying the scent of soil and plants, forming a sharp contrast with the deathly silence and filth of the cave behind them.
Facing this independent and complete small world, Ian could not help but exclaim, “What the hell? Where the hell did this take me? Is this even a Dungeon anymore?”
Amivy asked, “Is that another greeting from your hometown?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ian responded with an affirmation.
“The ‘hometown’ phrase I just used was essentially asking where we are.”
Amivy was also taking her first chance to carefully look at this world, her eyes filled with shock and confusion.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know. When I ran out, I was only focused on escaping. I only dared to stop and observe after I realized those monsters hadn’t followed me. Then… I saw this.”
She pointed at the ground not far from the cave entrance.
Several small piles of ash were scattered there, appearing charred and black under the sunlight.
They rustled and scattered as the wind blew.
“Those red-eyed monsters that were chasing me die instantly when exposed to sunlight. Their bodies are like ignited paper, quickly smoking and burning. They turn into ash like this in a few seconds, leaving behind not even a Magic Crystal.”
After listening to Amivy’s description, Ian could not help but marvel once again at the power of the Protagonist Halo.
‘To think she could survive even this. It’s a good thing I was decisive enough when redirecting the aggro back then.’
Ian squatted down and picked up a bit of ash with his fingers.
It felt fine, with no leftover Mana, as if it were just the most ordinary wood ash.
“Afraid of light… and light of this intensity…”
He looked up at the ‘sun’ in the sky.
“It seems the environment ‘outside’ is a lethal Forbidden Zone for the creatures in the cave.”
“So what do we do now?”
She looked at the world before her, which seemed peaceful yet was full of the unknown, her brow furrowed slightly.
“This place doesn’t feel much safer to me than the inside of the cave.”
Ian stood up, brushed the ash off his hands, and re-examined this strange 99th Floor.
Blue sky, white clouds, sunlight, and vegetation…
Everything was so beautiful it felt unreal, completely out of place with the name ‘Abyss Corridor’ and the danger they had just experienced.
Although Amivy was the Hero, she had experienced struggles in the Slums, the grind of military camps, and even solo missions in dangerous zones.
However, those experiences were either short-lived or she always had her powerful Mana as a trump card.
Like now, her Mana was completely sealed, she only had a wooden stick by her side, and she was in a completely unknown environment.
She needed to consider food, water, and shelter from scratch…
This was indeed the first time for her.
A hint of lostness flickered through her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.
She was the Hero and the Imperial Prince; she could never show weakness.
“You bastard, do you have a plan?”
“Well, since things have come to this, let’s go to sleep first.”
“Huh?”
Ian’s nonsensical words made Amivy let out a sound of confusion.
“Oh, sorry, Your Highness. I forgot you aren’t from my hometown…”
Then Ian laid out his analysis.
“First, this damn place definitely has a day-night cycle, though the timing is uncertain. Judging by the behavior of those red-eyed monsters, they need to eat.”
“But they fear the light, which means their foraging takes place when there is no light. That means ‘night’ exists here.”
Amivy nodded thoughtfully; the reasoning was logical.
“Second, since we know night exists, the most important thing next is to find a safe shelter.”
“Because we can’t use Mana right now, ‘night’ is absolutely dangerous for us. No one knows if there are things even more terrifying than those red-eyed monsters here.”
“Therefore, before it gets dark, we must find a temporary shelter that is well-hidden, easy to defend, and relatively safe to ensure we can rest.”
“And it can’t be in the open. It’s best to rely on the terrain, such as a hollow in a rock wall, a tree hole, or we can build a simple one ourselves.”
After this clear analysis, the way Amivy looked at Ian changed once more.
So this Masked Man, this bastard who usually had a head full of crooked ideas and even screwed over his teammates at critical moments, actually had some skills.
“That makes sense. Then, Master, which way should we go?”
“Go to higher ground, in the direction where the vegetation is relatively dense. Higher ground is safer, and dense vegetation means plenty of resources.”
“Fine. Shall we leave now?”
“Yes, Your Highness, we leave now.”
Having said that, the two didn’t delay any longer.
They carefully observed the terrain, the distribution of vegetation, and the direction of the rocks, and even looked down to check the soil and traces on the ground.
They first moved horizontally along the rock wall where the cave entrance was located for a while.
They found that the wall stretched for a long distance, but most of it was smooth and steep, with no ideal hollows or caves.
So they turned and cautiously headed toward a stream.
The ground beneath their feet was soft, covered in a thick, dark purple lichen similar to moss. Stepping on it was silent.
The leaves of those trees were oddly shaped, their branches twisted, casting dappled shadows under the ‘sunlight.’
The air was filled with a faint, strange scent of mint mixed with some kind of Berry.
For now, they found no obvious signs of animal activity, only the occasional metallic-looking beetle the size of a fingernail startled from the grass.
As Ian walked, he whispered explanations to Amivy about why he was picking things up.
“These trees look like they have a hard texture and rough bark, which can be stripped to use as rope or padding…”
“This velvet grass is quite dry and flammable, so it can be used for tinder…”
Amivy listened silently, committing the knowledge to memory.
After exploring for about an hour, the ‘sun’ began to dim significantly, and the light turned somewhat golden. Ian stopped.
They reached a slope about 1,000 meters from the stream.
The slope was backed by a rock wall that wasn’t too high but was solid enough.
At the base of the wall was a natural, shallow depression.
Although it wasn’t enough to fit inside completely, it was perfect as a ‘backrest’ and part of a ‘wall’ for a shelter.
The view in front of the slope was relatively open, allowing them to observe the direction of the stream and most of the path they had come from.
Clumps of low but exceptionally tough, dark green shrubs with thorns grew on the side of the slope, which could serve as a natural barrier.
“Here is good. The rock wall blocks the wind, the terrain is high enough, and it’s near a water source but with enough buffer distance to avoid dampness or being disturbed by animals drinking at night.”
“The bushes in front can provide some cover and early warning. What we need to do is expand and deepen the shallow pit in front of the rock wall, then use tree branches and shrub leaves to build a roof and a front barrier.”
Amivy looked around and nodded.
This place was easy to defend and hard to attack, with convenient water access and a good view. It truly met the requirements.
After a long search, the two finally found their desired shelter location.
But this didn’t mean they were safe.
Before this magical underground world entered ‘night’ completely, they still had many things to do to ensure their safety after ‘nightfall.’
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