A sharp, echoing noise tore through the corridor.
The ground gave a faint tremble—just enough to make the pebbles at our feet jitter like nervous insects.
Leo instinctively raised his spear. "What was that?"
I didn't answer. I was already scanning the shadows, listening.
"Tch. Who the hell got here before us?"
I felt my stomach drop.
That line... that voice...
This dungeon was supposed to be cleared in early June. That's how it played out in the original story—at the start of the academy arc.
It was still late May.
They weren't supposed to be here.
They weren't supposed to be here.
This damned world—this damned story—kept rewriting itself when I least expected it.
"Figures. No monsters left. Guess someone cleaned up before us."
Another voice—deeper, more annoyed. Footsteps echoed, drawing closer.
"Well, well. There you are. Didn't think you'd still be hanging around."
We turned as a group emerged from the shadows.
At least twenty—each armed, armored, and looking far too comfortable in a dungeon full of corpses. They blocked the exit like they owned it.
Leo took one step forward, eyes narrowing. "Who are you people?"
One of them—tall, broad-shouldered, with a jagged scar slicing across his nose—grinned like he was meeting old friends. "Us? We're the ones who were supposed to find the treasure in here."
These guys were supposed to be the ones who claimed the [Soul-Bound Staff]—my staff—if the story had gone the way it was supposed to.
But I'd stolen that chance. Claimed it before they even showed up.
[You have acquired another character's opportunity.]
[That character has significant importance in the story.]
[As a result, Penalty will be applied.]
…Yeah. That damn message made a lot more sense now.
I'd cut them out of their role.
And now the story was trying to shove them back in.
They weren't just any group of nobodies. I recognized a few faces. Minor antagonists with major potential. Future thorns in the side of the main cast.
If I hadn't taken the staff, they would've left with it. Grown stronger. Become a problem later.
They were a problem now.
"Relax," Their leader Carl thompson, an executive at the Villain alliance said, voice dripping with mockery. "We're just here to take what's ours."
"So…" the leader's gaze drifted lazily toward me. "Which one of you picked up the artifact? Be honest, and maybe we won't break your legs before you crawl out of here."
Leo stepped forward, mouth already opening—probably about to say something heroic—but I cut in first.
"That'd be me," I said flatly.
Heads turned. Mira's eyes widened. Violet's brows furrowed.
I could feel their surprise like heat on my neck, but I didn't have time to explain.
"Oh?" the leader tilted his head. "You don't look like much. Thought it'd be the guy with the flashy spear."
I shrugged. "Guess you were wrong."
"Funny," he said—and his smile dropped. "But I don't like funny people."
Without warning, he raised his hand.
A spell circle flared beneath his feet.
"Scatter!" I shouted, diving left just as the explosion erupted from the floor.
The blast scorched the walls, sending chunks of stone and heat crashing into the corridor. Half our torches went out.
Coughing through dust, I scrambled up.
The enemy wasn't hesitating. They were moving fast, splitting to flank both sides.
I saw one of them raise a blade toward Violet—
A flash of silver and violet cut the air. Mira. Her whip cracked through the attacker's arm like a thunderclap, sending him flying into the wall.
Leo charged forward with a roar, the Drakevolt Spear releasing a surge of crackling energy as it pierced the floor, sending shockwaves that knocked two of them off balance.
But there were too many.
"Fall back!" I yelled. "We can't take them all in this tunnel!"
They were already adapting—corralling us like wolves pushing sheep toward a cliff.
Except this sheep had stolen their meat.
Another spell fired, narrowly missing me and blasting a hole in the wall.
I ducked behind a broken pillar, gritting my teeth.
Penalty Level E+, huh?
Yeah. That was starting to make sense.
The system didn't kill you immediately for stealing a big plot opportunity.
It just made sure someone else tried to.
And now here we were. Outnumbered. Trapped.
They didn't even know what they were really after yet.
Because I still had the [Soul-Bound Staff] tucked inside my bracelet. Hidden.
I couldn't let that happen.
I reached down, and touched the bracelet.
The cool metal hummed under my fingers, the artifact sealed inside it like a coiled serpent waiting to strike.
I couldn't draw the [Soul-Bound Staff] yet—not here, not . Not unless I wanted to paint a target the size of a castle gate on my back.
Retreat was the right call—but not if it was just running. We needed to move, not scatter. I peeked out from behind the pillar. Mira was holding off two attackers at once, her whip singing through the air like lightning. Violet had conjured a barrier, barely keeping back a storm of projectiles. Leo was fending off the front, but the corridor gave us no room to maneuver.
Trent was holding on his own as Ama the healer and Luke the proterewere behind him.
It can't continue to .
At that moment, attackers stop and instantly moved backward towards their leader.
There was silence until, Carl spoke.
"Last chance, kids. I don't want kill kids but if you don't listen to me I'll kill all of you and take whatever artifacts or treasure you have taken from reward room from your dead body.
There was silence as Carl waited for response and he even got one.
But not what he expected.
" I said. FUCK. YOU."
It was Trent who said that.