THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Rapid footsteps echoed through the underground dungeon corridors.

Nobody was sprinting desperately through the lantern-lit tunnels while breathing heavily. "HAAAH... HAAAH...!"

Blossom Bunny clung tightly onto his shoulder while its ears flapped wildly from the speed.

Behind them....

massive centipede monsters crawled rapidly across the walls and ceilings.

Their countless legs scratched violently against stone surfaces.

SKRRRRRKKKKK....

Their glowing red hair-like heads moved unnaturally in the darkness while giant metallic mouths snapped repeatedly.

Nobody looked back once. Looking was even more of a big mistake. "...OH HELL NO!"

The creatures were horrifyingly fast. One crawled upside down directly above him.

Another rushed along the side wall.

A third smashed through broken stones behind them while screeching loudly.

"Nah nah nah!"

"This is NOT a tutorial!"

"This is nightmare fuel!"

Nobody jumped over broken debris while still running desperately. "REEEENNNNN! What the hell is this nightmare?!"

No answer.

"Of course."

The centipedes screeched louder.

SKRRRREEEEEE...

Blossom Bunny panicked and grabbed Nobody’s collar tighter.

Nobody almost cried emotionally. "WHY ARE THEY SO BIG?!"

One of the monsters suddenly lunged from the ceiling.

Nobody slid forward barely in time.

BOOOOM!

The centipede smashed directly into the tunnel floor behind him. Stone exploded everywhere.

Nobody stumbled forward. "HAAAH...! ...I’m gonna die..."

The tunnel ahead suddenly split into two paths.

Nobody immediately took the right turn without thinking.

That was his bad choice.

A few seconds later....

he froze. "...Oh no."

The path ahead was completely blocked by collapsed stones and rubble. No exit, no opening.

Nobody slowly turned around. "...You gotta be kidding me."

SKRRRRRRK...

The centipedes crawled into the corridor slowly now.

One from the wall. One from the ceiling.

Another from the ground tunnel behind broken debris.

Their glowing red eyes locked onto him like predators cornering prey.

Nobody’s breathing became uneven."...Okay...Okay calm down...Definitely not calm."

Blossom Bunny looked nervous too.

Nobody slowly placed the bunny down behind him. "...Stay back little dude."

The monsters moved closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then....

Nobody straightened his posture. Blue pixelated particles suddenly appeared around both his hands.

SHHHHHHHK...

Twin blade crowbars materialized instantly. The sharp metallic weapons gleamed under the lantern lights.

Nobody spun them once dramatically despite sweating nervously. "...Alright then." He forced a grin. "Let’s see what you got."

The nearest centipede instantly attacked.

SKREEEEEE....

Its giant metallic-looking mouth opened wide. Two massive scissor-like teeth snapped toward him violently.

Nobody reacted instantly. "HYAAAH!"

CLANG!

His blade crowbar smashed directly against the creature’s hard shell mouth. Sparks exploded outward.

But the damage was tiny. Barely a scratch.

Nobody’s eyes widened. "...WHAT?!"

The centipede’s sheer force pushed him backward violently.

THUD!

He slammed against the stone floor. "HAAAGH!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[WARNING] ⚠︎

Enemy armor durability extremely high

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody immediately stood up again. "...YOU COULD’VE TOLD ME EARLIER!"

The centipede screeched loudly. Another one suddenly rushed from behind him.

Nobody sensed it too late. "...AH...!"

The giant creature lunged directly toward his back.

But then....

POOF!

Blossom Bunny suddenly jumped forward. "ATTA!" Its tiny paw kicked Nobody suddenly at the perfect angle.

THUD!

Nobody got shoved sideways unexpectedly. At the exact same moment, the centipede attack missed him completely.

BOOOOM!

Its giant jaws smashed directly into the wall instead. Stone exploded everywhere.

Nobody rolled across the ground before stopping. Then blinked rapidly. "...Whoa."

He slowly looked toward Blossom Bunny. The tiny bunny proudly stood there with one paw raised dramatically.

Nobody stared for a second. Then laughed breathlessly. "...You really saved my butt right now."

Blossom Bunny happily raised both paws. "Atta!"

Nobody pointed dramatically at the bunny. "...You’re officially promoted from cute mascot to emergency support unit."

The centipedes screeched again.

Nobody immediately turned back toward them. "...Right....Still horrifying."

The monsters started circling slowly now. Their countless legs scraped against the walls and floor with terrifying rhythm.

SKRRRK...

SKRRRK...

Nobody tightened his grip on the twin blade crowbars.

"...Hard shell..."

"...Fast movement..."

"...Wall crawling..."

He exhaled sharply. "...Man this stage is really reminding me of that pc game...."

One centipede suddenly climbed upside down onto the ceiling.

Another lowered itself closer through the side wall.

They were coordinating.

Hunting.

Nobody noticed immediately.

"...Wait..."

"They’re cornering me."

The system window flickered.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Combat Analysis] (.･∀･)ﾉ

Enemies attempting multi-angle assault

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"...Fantastic."

One centipede suddenly lunged downward from above.

Nobody jumped sideways instantly.

BOOM!

The jaws crushed the ground where he had stood.

Another attacked immediately after from the side.

Nobody blocked with both crowbars.

CLANG!

The impact numbed his arms completely. "...GAH!"

The shell really was insanely durable. The creature pushed him backward again through sheer force alone. Nobody slid across the stone floor.

Then suddenly paused.

"...Wait." He looked closely at the jaws.

The shell was very hard.

But...the joints between the armored plates moved differently. Softer and flexible.

He grinned his mouth slightly. "...Found something."

Another centipede charged toward him aggressively.

Nobody inhaled deeply. "...Okay ugly."

"Round two."

The centipede rushed forward with terrifying speed. Its countless legs scraped violently against the stone floor while the red hair-like strands around its head moved like living wires.

SKRRRRREEEEE...

Nobody tightened his grip on the twin blade crowbars. "...Alright...No panicking."

The monster lunged. Its massive scissor-like jaws snapped toward his torso.

Nobody moved instantly. Sideways.

FWOOSH!

The jaws barely missed him.

A shockwave of air brushed against his shirt. "...TOO CLOSE!"

But this time....Nobody didn’t waste the opening. His focus locked directly onto the softer joint beneath the creature’s armored neck plates. "There!"

SHING!

One blade crowbar slashed sharply into the gap. Dark liquid burst outward instantly.

The centipede screeched violently.

SKRRRRAAAAAA....

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Weak Point Hit Confirmed]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody’s eyes widened. "...OH!...NOW WE ARE TALKING!"

The creature twisted violently in pain. Its giant body smashed into nearby walls uncontrollably.

BOOOOM!

Stone debris exploded everywhere.

Nobody quickly jumped backward. "HAAAH...!"

Another centipede immediately attacked from the ceiling.

Nobody reacted way too late. The giant body crashed downward toward him.

But then....

"ATTA!"

Blossom Bunny suddenly smacked the side of Nobody’s face with its paw.

THWACK!

"...OW!"

That tiny hit shifted his balance just enough.

The centipede slammed into the ground inches beside him instead.

BOOOOM!

The floor cracked violently.

Nobody stared at the crater beside him.

Then slowly looked toward Blossom Bunny. "...Okay....I officially owe my life... You’re really cooking now."

Blossom Bunny proudly puffed its chest out. "Atta!"

Nobody pointed dramatically."From now on you’re now my best summon."

The monsters screeched again. The injured centipede slowly raised itself while dark fluid dripped from the weak point wound.

But instead of fear it looked more aggressive now.

Nobody swallowed. "...Yeah...Should’ve expected that."

The tunnel suddenly shook slightly.

SKRRRRRK...

A new sound echoed deeper within the dungeon.

Nobody froze.

"...Wait....There’s MORE?!"

The system window flickered urgently.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[WARNING] ⚠︎

Additional enemy movement detected nearby

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody looked emotionally devastated.

"...Ren....you!!! That’s why you were smirking..."

The centipedes attacked together this time.

One from the front, one from above.

Nobody dashed forward instantly.

He slid beneath the first creature....then spun sharply.

SHING!

The blade crowbar struck another weak joint beneath the shell. Dark liquid splashed across the stone floor.

The monster screeched violently again.

But the second centipede already attacked from behind. Nobody barely blocked with crossed crowbars.

CLAAAAANG!

The impact pushed him backward several meters. His shoes scraped violently across the floor. "...GAH!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Arm Stress Increasing](-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷄_-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷅ )

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Of course it hurts like hell...!" Nobody’s hands trembled slightly now. "...These things hit like meteor showers..."

The monsters slowly repositioned again. The injured centipede stopped exposing its neck joints as much now.

Nobody noticed immediately. "...Oh come on....You guys evolve mid-fight too?!"

Blossom Bunny suddenly tugged his sleeve urgently. "Atta! Atta!"

Nobody blinked. "...Hm?"

The bunny pointed upward rapidly.

Nobody looked, then immediately panicked. A giant centipede was crawling silently across the ceiling directly above him waiting for the perfect attack moment.

"...OH YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"