Thomas slipped into the crack without a second thought.

  The rock was rough and uneven, scraping his arms and side as he squeezed through. There was barely enough room for his slender body; he had to turn sideways and curl in, pressing his back against the cold stone while the dry brush growing in front of the crevice collapsed over him, covering him like an improvised disguise.

  He brought a hand to his mouth. Not to scream. To stop himself from breathing. The sound came again.

  Toc… toc… clac…

  It was exactly as his panicked mind had imagined it: hollow wooden tubes knocking against each other, off-beat, without any human rhythm. The noise drew closer slowly, scraping against the stone as it moved.

  From where he was hiding, he could only see the floor of the natural corridor in front of the crack. The view was minimal—just a few inches of dark rock… until something entered his field of vision.

  A foot.

  It wasn’t flesh.

  It was wood.

  Jointed, crude, with cracks that looked like ancient grain lines. It moved with an unnatural jerk, followed by another hollow sound. Then the other one appeared.

  The creature passed right in front of him. Thomas didn’t move at all.

  His heart was pounding so hard he was sure the monster could hear it. Every beat was a hammer blow in his ears. Cold sweat ran down his temple and spine, and he had to bite his hand to keep from gasping.

  The puppet—because there was no other way to describe it—had long, disproportionate legs. Its steps were slow but steady, as if it were in no hurry at all.

  Toc… clac… toc…

  The sound faded away. Thomas didn’t move. He didn’t blink. He waited. Seconds passed, then minutes.

  Only when the echo vanished completely did his body react all at once. Air rushed violently into his lungs, making him cough silently. He pressed his forearm against his mouth to smother any sound.

  ‘This is insane…’

  This wasn’t a simulation. It wasn’t training. The heroines who descended into the Abyss did so armed, trained, and in teams. He was alone. Unarmed. Weak. Inexperienced.

  And with a timer hanging over his head.

  [Time remaining: 00:56:32]

  Thomas swallowed hard.

  ‘I can’t stay here for an hour. This place is…’

  The crack was too narrow. Every breath grew harder; the air was stale, and the pressure in his chest was starting to hurt. His legs were going numb. If he stayed there much longer, he would pass out… and then he really would be dead.

  Very slowly, he began to back out.

  Every movement was calculated. Every brush against the rock sounded like thunder to him. When he finally made it out, he stayed crouched, his back hunched and his hands on the ground, breathing carefully.

  He looked around.

  The Abyss was worse than he had imagined.

  Irregular rock corridors branched off in multiple directions. Some walls were covered in dark moss and twisted roots. The air smelled of dampness, rust, and something ancient.

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  He opened the system with a thought. The blue panel appeared in front of him. There were no maps. No warnings. Just the timer.

  [Time remaining: 00:54:08]

  He could access the shop. The inventory. The usual menus. That was it.

  “Great…,” he muttered, his voice trembling with irony.

  That was when he looked at the spatula in his hand.

  He gripped it tightly.

  ‘Selene…’

  He had hesitated before, but now the idea pressed forward with clarity. If his luck worked even a little—if it gave even the smallest nudge to probability—he had no other choice.

  He took a deep breath.

  “Release,” he whispered.

  The spatula vibrated.

  A pale blue light, speckled with tiny golden motes, expanded in front of him. Space warped, and in the next instant, Selene appeared kneeling on the rock.

  “…What…?”

  She blinked several times, clearly disoriented. Then she lifted her head and took in the dark surroundings, the uneven walls, the heavy air.

  Her eyes flew open.

  “Where the hell are we?!”

  She jumped to her feet, looking around in every direction.

  “What did you do?” she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

  He raised both hands immediately.

  “Listen—”

  “No!” she cut him off. “Don’t tell me to listen to anything until you explain why the world suddenly looks like a bargain-bin nightmare!”

  She turned fully toward him, clearly furious.

  “You shove me into a spatula, dematerialize me, and now I pop out in—?”

  She stopped abruptly. She looked around again. Her expression changed.

  “…No,” she muttered. “No, no, no…”

  She looked back at him.

  “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

  Thomas swallowed.

  “We’re in the Abyss.”

  Selene brought a hand to her forehead.

  “You’re…,” she took a deep breath, “…you’re a complete idiot. People die here!” she scolded, jabbing a finger into his chest. “This is where trained heroines go—with teams, with plans! Not clueless civilians like us!”

  “I’m trying not to die,” he replied, his voice a mix of nerves and sincerity.

  Selene clenched her fists.

  “…I’m going to kill you when we get out.”

  Then she grew even angrier, her expression darkening as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

  “You’re an idiot! And then you store me in a spatula?! How far do you plan to disrespect me, you damn sexist?! Is humiliating me this much really what you’re going for?! I already have enough trouble having to obey you!”

  Thomas grabbed her wrists and answered nervously.

  “Y-you can say whatever you want once we’re out of here. Let me think clearly right now—I need to figure out how we’re surviving for an hour.”

  She snorted, but then her gaze sharpened.

  “Your name.”

  “Huh?”

  “At least tell me your name!” she said, looking at him with a petulant, almost childish expression, though her face remained sharp and serious.

  Thomas hesitated. He wanted to keep his privacy intact, but given how his system worked—certain synergy parameters and that day’s mission—he was already starting to doubt whether that was the right call.

  “Thomas,” he said.

  “Are you lying to me?”

  “No, I swear I’m not…”

  Selene huffed, letting go of him, and crossed her arms, turning sideways. Thomas adjusted his shirt in silence. They hadn’t even had time to do anything when a scream tore through the air.

  It was so sharp it made both of them flinch, amplified by the echo racing through the dark, damp corridors. Selene screamed and grabbed Thomas by the neck, hugging him tightly.

  They clung to each other, shrinking in on themselves. As deafening as the sound had been, it had come from deep within the Abyss.

  “What the hell was that?!” Selene exclaimed.

  When the howl finally stopped, both of them were left trembling. Thomas rested his cheek against Selene’s light-blue hair due to their difference in height.

  Seconds passed before Selene realized she was hugging Thomas, and she quickly shoved him away with force.

  “Get off me, you damn perverted woman-kidnapper!”

  She brushed off her clothes, ignoring him. Thomas looked at her with annoyance as he fixed his own clothes, but said nothing. Not even ten seconds passed before another sound echoed through the corridors—this time a long, drawn-out howl, like a bird’s song, eerie and unnatural.

  Selene trembled in terror and ran back to Thomas, but this time she only hid behind his back, her eyes watery.

  “I-it’s fine, s-sorry, just… think of something to get us out of here,” she said in a shaky voice.

  Thomas, still terrified and with his heart racing, replied:

  “I brought you because your luck might help us. It should increase our chances of surviving, right?”

  “For how long?”

  “One hour.”

  Selene closed her eyes for a second.

  “…My luck isn’t a shield,” she said as she opened them. “It won’t magically save you. It just increases probabilities. It makes some things more likely… but if something already has a high chance of killing us, it’ll still be dangerous. Or, well… I think so. It’s not like I’ve ever experienced anything like this before.”

  Thomas nodded.

  “That’s enough for me. I trust your gift, Selene.”

  Selene looked at him as if she wanted to say something more… but stopped.

  “…You shouldn’t have brought me,” she murmured.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The Abyss roared in the distance.

  Both of them tensed.

  Selene sighed in irritation.

  “Fine,” she said. “If we’re going to survive, it’ll have to be fast. And when we get out, we’re talking about this.”

  Thomas nodded, his heart still pounding. The timer kept ticking down, and the Abyss waited for no one.

  ‘If I can still access the shop, maybe I can buy some item that actually works.’