Rachel looked around at everybody with the somber and down expressions. They couldn’t keep going .
She clapped her hands together to gather everyones attention.
"Alright ladies and Cutiefolk...Horo and the Old Man too.."
Greg’s eyes widened in disbelief that even now, that Rachel still kept calling him an old man. Also was why he and Adam treated like an afterthought in her address?
"We need to keep going. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this was only the first Boss. There’s probably another 2 at the very least. Little Rose, could you extract any materials and loot that you can please~?"
Penny blinked, caught off guard as Rachel turned the attention toward her with her usual chaotic energy. The sudden shift felt strange, but maybe it was necessary. Dwelling on everything too long would break them.
"Uh... right," Penny murmured as she stepped toward the remains of the Demon. The body was half-fused into the rotting wood, its form barely recognizable as anything that had once moved or breathed. Something about it still felt wrong.
She crouched beside it, activated her Dismantlement skill, and placed her hand on the remains.
[Skill Activated: Dismantlement]
A purple glyph flared to life under her palm, pulsing softly before flickering unevenly.
[Error: Dismantlement only partially successful. Target flagged as Partial Player Entity. Extraction limitations applied.]
[Partial Success: Loot Retrieved]
Skillbook: Ocular Blast (Uncommon)
Allseeing Glasses (Cursed) (Rare)
Light Bow: Demonstring (Epic)
Penny stared at the message. Her breath caught.
She slowly turned to face the others, voice low. "Guys. The system flagged the body as... a Player."
Adam sat up a little straighter, eyes narrowing. "Player? You mean like one of us?"
"It said Partial Player Entity," Penny clarified. Her voice was shaking slightly now. "That shouldn’t be possible, right?"
"No. That’s wrong," Greg said flatly. "No way that thing was a player. Not with what it was doing."
Leo was already on his feet, his jaw tight. "Unless it used to be one."
The air grew heavier. Even Rachel looked serious now.
Penny cleared her throat and held up the loot. "This is what I got from it."
She showed them each item.
"A Light Bow called Demonstring. Looks like it’s built for speed and stealth. A skillbook named Ocular Blast, probably ranged magic. And... these." She hesitated as she held up a pair of thin, black-rimmed glasses. The lenses shimmered with a faint red glow.
"Allseeing Glasses. Cursed," she said quietly.
Crystal stepped closer, examining the glasses but not touching them. "Do you think these belonged to whoever that thing was before it became this way?"
Rachel tilted her head at that, her usual smirk nowhere to be found.
"If they did, then that makes it worse," she said. "Because that would mean whoever it was, they got turned into... that."
Greg crossed his arms, his eyes dark. "If this dungeon can take a person and twist them into a monster like that, then we’re in way deeper than we thought."
Leo stayed quiet, staring at the items with a clenched jaw. His shoulders were tense, his eyes unreadable. Finally, he shook his head.
"No one uses anything we get in here," he said.
Lily blinked. "What? Not even the skillbook? That could come in handy."
Leo looked up sharply. "We don’t know what these items are really tied to. If they came from something corrupted, they might carry traces of it. I’m not risking one of us ending up like that thing."
Penny frowned slightly but nodded. "I’ll keep them sealed in my inventory."
Adam looked down at the gear, his thoughts turning back to the silence in his head. He barely registered the others. His gaze lingered on the glasses for a moment longer than the rest
"I know those," he said slowly as recognition slowly dawned on him.
Everyone’s attention snapped back to him.
"It’s the man we fought in the forest," Adam explained, voice tight. "The one who was insane, even on the verge of death. The one I stabbed in the eye."
He swallowed hard, the memory sharp and raw. "Elise saved him. Pulled him out before we could finish him off. He was that Nototorious and Mysterious PKer..."
Luna remained kneeling on the ground, her hands resting lightly on her knees as she leaned against Leo. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Adam, voice low and shaky.
"That’s right... I remember those glasses. I saw them the moment we came face to face with him in the forest."
Lily furrowed her brow, stepping closer to Luna. "The crazy guy, the one who barely seemed human near the end. I thought he was just some wild player gone mad, but those glasses... they’re exactly the same."
Rachel’s expression was grim. She crossed her arms, her voice quiet but serious
"When I felt his desires, it felt sick and disgusting. The only thing he desired was murder. To kill and slaughter....it makes me think...how much of that was the demons influence."
Adam’s voice was low but fierce. "If Elise saved him, dragged him out before we finished it... then she’s here. One of the bosses could be Elise herself."
Luna swallowed hard. "I don’t want to believe it, but it makes sense."
Aria who had remained quiet up untul now finally spoke.
"So what’s the gameplan then."
Adam’s eyes flashed with fierce intensity as he stood abruptly, his voice sharp and commanding. "We take her down. No hesitation. No mercy. If she’s one of the bosses, then she’s the one who needs to die first."
The group stiffened at his bluntness. Leo’s jaw tightened, a flicker of concern crossing his face. He opened his mouth as if to argue, but Luna’s steady, silent gaze stopped him. Her eyes held a quiet resolve, telling him to hold back.
Leo swallowed hard, then nodded slowly in agreement, the weight of the situation settling over him.
Aria glanced between them, sensing the tension. "Alright then. We keep moving. Eyes open, weapons ready. No mistakes."
Rachel cracked her knuckles, the spark of determination returning. "Let’s finish this."
The dungeon’s shadows seemed to close in around them, but now the group moved with a renewed purpose, ready to face whatever horrors awaited them next.
[System Notice: Solution Finalized.]
[Countermeasures shall be implemented]
[Bonuses shall be given to Players Clearing the Raid Dungeon: The Procession Gathers for each Boss Defeated]
[Current Bosses Defeated: 1 of ?]
[Rewards shall be Distributed]
The party stopped in their tracks. The system was actively trying to help them?
That was just proof that whatever it was that awaited them was that much stronger.