The screen flickered again.[System][New mission avaible: Tribal Forest Dungeon.][Do you accept?]

  Katherine took a cautious step toward him. “So,” she said. “What do we do now?”

  The screen was still there, floating in front of Kai. ‘If I accept,’ Kai thought, ‘But where is that so-called... dungeon, system?’ [Find it.] ‘Well, you sure are talkative, system,’ Kai thought.

  Katherine was standing beside him, watching him very closely. “How much are you thinking about?” she said, opening her eyes wider. “You did hear me... what do we do now, Kai?” Katherine said, letting out a small sigh. Kai turned and looked at Katherine. “Do you know of any dungeon, Katherine?”

  “A what?” Katherine said, narrowing her eyes with a bit of disbelief. ‘She definitely doesn’t know,’ Kai thought. “A dungeon, a pce where there are lots of monsters and you have to fight them to get things.”

  She shook her head first. “I don’t know, Kai...,” she replied, her ears drooping. Kai looked away toward the trees, as if that helped him think better. The forest was still just as dark, just as silent. There were no marked paths. There were no signs. Only roots, trunks.

  “Find it,” the system had said. ‘Sure, as if that were so easy.’ Katherine kept looking at him, waiting for Kai to say something. “Let’s walk. I need to find that pce,” Kai said. “Where to?” Katherine replied. Kai hesitated for half a second. “In any direction. It has to be nearby,” Kai said, shrugging.

  Katherine blinked, but she did not argue. She stepped to his side, close enough that her tail brushed against his leg by accident. The air changed after a few minutes, as if something were seeping through the trees.

  Kai noticed it first in the ground. The earth stopped sinking under his feet. It became harder, more compact, and then he saw it between two giant roots, partially hidden by the undergrowth, there was something that should not have been there.

  A dark opening. It did not look like a natural cave. The edges were too straight and too clean, as if someone... or something... had dug it out from the inside. The screen appeared.

  [Tribal Forest Dungeon located.]

  It disappeared. Kai stopped, and Katherine almost bumped into him. “What is it?” Kai turned to look at her again. “I guess it really was nearby, Kat,” Kai said, staring directly into the catgirl’s golden eyes.

  He pointed toward the opening. Katherine blushed, probably after hearing the diminutive of her name spoken by Kai. “Uh... yeah, I think I see something there,” she swallowed. “It’s like a cave.”

  ‘What happens if I don’t go in?’ Kai thought, and then continued, ‘There’s nothing to lose anyway.’ “Let’s go,” Kai finally said, determined.

  ...

  Stepping inside was like crossing an invisible line. The air changed as soon as he took the first step in. It was not the typical cold of the night. It was different, a little different. Heavier. Drier. The sound of the leaves disappeared behind them.

  There was no wind, no insect, absolutely nothing in the cave, only the faint echo of their own footsteps. Kai moved forward carefully, feeling how the uneven stone beneath his feet repced the damp earth outside.

  The corridor sloped downward slowly, almost imperceptibly, but enough to make him notice that they were descending. Katherine entered after him. Closer than necessary. Her tail moved slowly behind her. “I... don’t like this,” she murmured. Kai stayed silent. He did not like it either.

  But he had no intention of saying that out loud. The walls were covered in moisture. In some pces, water dripped from the ceiling at irregur intervals. The sound was small, but constant. Plink Plink Plink.

  Farther ahead, something was glowing. They were runes carved directly into the stone. They were blue. Katherine brought a hand to her neck without realizing it. “This pce feels strange,” she said in a low voice. ‘A pce this big shouldn’t be this quiet.’ They advanced a few more meters. The first level was wide. One single main corridor that stretched into the darkness. There were no doors. There were no forks. And most importantly, there was still nothing.

  Kai frowned. “There are no monsters?” Too easy. Katherine looked around, uneasy. “Are you sure this is a dungeon?”

  ‘No, but the system shouldn’t be lying, or at least I hope not,’ Kai thought. They kept moving forward until the corridor ended in another opening. Stone stairs descended farther down. ‘Of course,’ Kai sighed. “Right, it had to have a second level,” Kai said.

  Katherine looked at him. “Second level?” Kai hesitated. “This... normally dungeons have more than one level. Some even have up to 10,” Kai said, based on the experience he had from pying video games.

  The second level was different, narrower and darker than the first. The blue light of the runes barely lit the ground in front of them. The walls seemed to close in slowly as they descended. The air was a little colder. Kai took the st step and stopped.

  ....

  He had heard a faint sound. He turned his head slightly. There was nothing, as usual in this dungeon, but he felt that there was something there. He had heard a soft scrape against the stone. He looked toward Katherine. Her ears were standing upright. Apparently she had heard it too.

  Footsteps. Slow, irregur. Cck. Kai felt his back tense up. Cck Cck. The sound was hollow. It was like hitting wood. Katherine took half a step toward him without realizing it. “We’re not alone,” she whispered. Kai did not need her to tell him that.

  Cck. Cck. Much closer now. He had no weapon, no armor to protect himself, only a catgirl. ‘Perfect,’ Kai thought.

  The sound came again, much louder this time, as if they had turned a corner in some corridor they could not see.

  Cck Cck Cck. Kai swallowed. Something was moving in the darkness. He could see it, but not make it out. Katherine pced her hand softly on his bare back. “I don’t like this.” Then he saw it, a white glow. Level two was not empty. And whatever was coming toward them...

  It had no intention of stopping.