Chapter 114 - A Dungeon With No Exit
A bug dungeon.
Players trapped within such a place — later termed a Lost Dungeon — were never able to escape again.
Near BeyWorld.
Inside a nearby shopping complex, Captain Michael wiped his eyes and stared again.
Still no change.
But could what he was seeing even be real?
Kra-kra-kra-kraakk!
The swarm of Parasites had gone completely berserk, rendering the area too dangerous to approach. He and his unit had tried circling BeyWorld several times, looking for even the tiniest breach in the infested perimeter.
Nothing.
Eventually, they’d had no choice but to set up temporary observation in a shopping building just outside the infected zone.
These guys are fresh recruits. Barely any real player experience among them. Sending them in without backup would be suicide.
They’d been deployed here based on Adonis ’s warning, but if he had known a large-scale dungeonization was on the verge of erupting, they should have mobilized a full corps from the ARC base.
Damn it. This is bad.
The truth was simple: at their current strength, his team couldn’t last a full minute against even one Parasite.
Storming in now would be a death march.
Retreating was no better.
A perfect stalemate.
Ruuuuumble...!
Time passed — and then came the crash.
A dragon — Arman — smashed its head straight into the side of BeyTower.
And suddenly...
The Parasites began to quiet.
The madness that had swept around BeyWorld began to settle, forming almost a ring of silence around the epicenter.
"They’re stabilizing..." Michael muttered.
Which meant only one thing.
"Captain! If we’re going in, it’s now or never!"
"Right. Everyone, prep to move!"
The team bolted from the shopping complex, heading straight for BeyWorld.
The Parasites that had surrounded the tower like a living fortress had gone eerily still — like a thick wall of flesh and chitin, motionless.
"This way! There’s a gap!"
A narrow route had opened — a fragile path untouched by the chaos.
They moved. Fast.
The Parasites might have calmed for now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t attack without warning. It was far too early to lower their guard.
And if Parasites were growing docile, it meant only one thing:
"Time’s short. Search for survivors before dungeonization completes."
"Sir, yes sir!"
Would their arrival really make a difference?
No one knew.
But if there were any survivors left clinging to life inside — they had to get them out. That alone justified the risk.
And there was another reason: supplies.
Their packs were full — rations for Adonis ’s men, who were likely starving by now.
Potions. Ammunition. Medical kits.
The supplies were their real mission.
"Move! Even if Clark and Kyle are still alive, if we lose them now, ARC’s future is finished!"
But of course...
Things never go according to plan.
Just as BeyWorld finally seemed reachable, just as they thought they had a path in—
A much bigger change began.
"Captain!"
The ground shook beneath their boots.
The earth cracked wide.
Suddenly, a barrier — invisible but unbreakable — split the team in two.
Michael and the few still outside...
And the others who had just entered BeyWorld.
"Fall back!"
"What?!"
"I said run!"
But no sound came through.
It was like the world itself had gone silent.
Like someone had hit the mute button on reality.
They could see each other’s mouths move — but no words reached either side.
And then—
FLASH.
It happened in an instant.
"..."
Those left behind stared in blank horror.
BeyWorld — once towering, enormous, impossible to miss —
Was gone.
"C-Captain..."
Michael stepped forward, heart racing.
He looked down.
Where the tower had once stood, now there was only a crater.
Like the entire space had been scooped out with a divine shovel.
A massive sinkhole.
"What... what the hell is this?"
"Sir — comms? Can we reach them?"
"Try again."
"Already did. Nothing. It’s dead silent."
They cycled frequencies.
Checked every device.
Their comms were top-of-the-line — they should’ve worked even inside a dungeon.
But no matter what they tried — nothing came through.
"Try again. Check all channels."
Still nothing.
Michael bent down, picked up a pebble, and tossed it toward the crater.
Tunk.
"...?"
The stone bounced off something in midair.
His eyes narrowed.
He picked up another and threw again.
Same thing.
Like the air itself had hardened.
He stepped closer.
"Captain! That’s too dangerous—!"
But his hand had already reached out.
And touched... something.
An invisible wall.
Smooth. Solid.
It blocked him.
"...You’re really in there, aren’t you?"
And then came a system message.
[A bug has occurred.]
[We apologize. The system is currently under restoration.]
"...What?"
Michael ’s expression contorted.
Did it just say bug...?
This world — Exodia — may have started as a game...
But it had long since bled into reality.
And now it was saying a bug occurred?
A bug.
And a system restoration.
He stood frozen, thinking.
His military background kicked in.
He wasn’t just some brawler — he had once been an elite intelligence specialist.
"Contact ARC. Immediately."
"Sir?"
"Search Exodia 1. Look for any instances where dungeonization triggered a bug.
And find a way to get them out."
He stared down into the crater again.
No movement.
No light.
Just... emptiness.
But deep down, he felt it.
They were still in there.
No — they are alive.
He shouted.
"There’s no time! Move!"
The system claimed it was under repair.
But would that help the people trapped inside?
No one could say.
Too many unknowns.
But all of this had started in Exodia.
And if it had happened once before —
If something similar occurred in Exodia 1—
Then there must be a way.
There has to be.
Michael narrowed his eyes.
And stared long into the void.
Without blinking.
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