Floor 5 – Sunderwood
The sun had begun its descent, casting long shadows across Sunderwood as Adonis ventured deeper into the forest. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and rustling leaves, a quiet prelude to the violence that was about to unfold. Six goblins stood in his path—one clutching a bow, another brandishing a spear, the rest armed with chipped swords. Their beady eyes locked onto him, but before they could react, Adonis moved.
His Sheathed blade flashed, a blur of motion. The goblins barely had time to register their deaths before they crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Adonis exhaled, gripping his sheathed sword with practiced ease. He pulled up his interface, the glowing text hovering before his eyes:
Name: Adonis @#!@#
Level: 8
Stats:
- Strength: 15
- Agility: 12
- Endurance: 12
- Intelligence: 10
- Luck: 15
- Durability: 7
- Stamina: 8
Skills: Annihilation Beam (E), Blink (E)
Stat Points: 0
Tower Points: 0
A flicker of satisfaction crossed his face as he checked his quest progress: 30/50 goblins slain.
"Good. Twenty more to go," he muttered, stepping over the fallen creatures as he pressed onward.
---
Night had fallen by the time Adonis wiped the last of the goblin blood from his sheathed blade. The forest was silent now, save for the distant hoot of an owl. The interface shimmered into view once more, announcing his success:
Quest Complete!
Reward: 200 TP
A smirk tugged at his lips. His first mission was done, and the reward was his. He turned to leave Sunderwood, ready to rest—until the ground beneath him erupted in a burst of light. A magic circle flared to life, its intricate runes pulsing with eerie energy. Before he could react, the world twisted, and he was gone.
---
Floor ??? — ???
Adonis blinked, disoriented. The forest was gone, replaced by a vast, lit chamber. He wasn't alone. Dozens of people—adventurers in armor, ordinary folk in plain clothes—stood around him, their faces etched with confusion and fear.
"What's going on here?" a man shouted.
"How did I get here?" a woman whimpered.
Then, the air grew heavy. A figure materialized at the front of the crowd—a lich, its skeletal frame draped in a robe of writhing shadows. Blue flames flickered within its hollow eye sockets, casting an unnatural glow. Behind it, shrouded in darkness, stood other figures, their presence radiating menace.
The adventurers reacted instantly, weapons drawn, but the lich raised a bony hand.
"Attention," it intoned, its voice like crumbling parchment.
No one listened. The chamber erupted into chaos—shouts, pleas, the clatter of steel. The lich exhaled, a sound like a dying wind, and the world plunged into absolute blackness. A single word burned in the void:
"QUIET."
Then, light returned. The pressure that followed was unbearable. Some collapsed, their bodies unable to withstand the force. Others dropped to their knees, gasping. A few, Adonis among them, gasping and sweating remained standing, though even he felt the weight of the lich's power pressing down on him.
"Now that I have your attention," the lich said, "let us begin."
Its words sent a chill through the crowd.
"You have been graced with the opportunity to entertain our lord, VorgothEnder Of Worlds. Your lives shall serve as a sacrifice to welcome him into this world."
Disbelief rippled through the chamber. A burly adventurer, clad in gleaming armor, stepped forward, his sword raised. "You think you can just summon us here and demand our lives? I won't die for some unknown god!"
Others rallied behind him, weapons at the ready.
Adonis sighed. "Idiots," he muttered. The lich's aura was overwhelming, a maelstrom of darkness. And the figures behind it? Their power was unfathomable.
The lich pointed a skeletal finger.
The adventurers' upper bodies exploded.
Gore splattered the floor. A woman screamed. Panic erupted anew.
"Insects," the lich hissed.
Silence followed, broken only by the ragged breaths of the survivors.
"Killing you all would be too easy," the lich continued. "Instead, you will entertain us. You will be transported to the Labyrinth of the Deadly Embrace. Find your way out, and you will be set free."
A snap of its fingers—and the world dissolved once more.
---
Adonis opened his eyes to darkness. Cold stone pressed against his palms as he pushed himself up. The labyrinth stretched before him, a maze of twisting pathways and towering walls, its corridors swallowing all light.
He was alone.
"Seems like everyone got randomly placed," he mused, scanning the shadows.
Somewhere in the depths of this deadly embrace, the game had begun.