Suddenly, the floor gave way with a whoosh.
By the time I came to my senses, I was already in this state.
"...Ugh."
[Oopsie, be careful! Treasures are hidden deep within the ruins, but at the same time, extremely dangerous traps also exist. It's a rule of the dungeon!]
A frivolous voice drifted from afar.
That damn Helper only ever explains the rules after someone dies, always too late.
The bottom of a dizzyingly deep pit.
Sharp iron skewers were embedded there, like the quills of a hedgehog.
Jeong Da-woon was dying, his stomach impaled on one of those cruel weapons.
"Ugh."
With his last ounce of strength, he pulled out the skewer that had pierced through his body.
Then, he crawled across the floor and leaned against a corner.
Laboriously, he looked up at the ceiling and saw a round speck of light at the end of the vast darkness.
It was the opening of the trap he had fallen into.
'To think I came all this way, only to be blinded by treasure...'
His regret was immense.
He had no one to blame but himself; he was facing death due to his own mistake.
'Is this how I die in the end?'
His vision grew increasingly distant.
He must have lost too much blood.
As time passed, his body grew colder.
A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and his mind was just blank.
His five senses gradually dulled, and this whole situation felt utterly unreal.
He had struggled so hard, not wanting to die, but in the end, death was at his doorstep.
'No, it was unreal from the very beginning. Ever since I was summoned to this horrendous world.'
That's right.
Jeong Da-woon's reality had shattered right from that moment.
One month ago.
From the moment he was forcibly summoned with strangers he didn't even know to this unidentified world called a 'dungeon'.
And from the very moment that damn rabbit appeared before them, as they milled about in confusion, and started prattling with a wide grin!
[Ta-da! Welcome to the dungeon! You've all been invited to a game! Huh? What kind of game, you ask?]
The rabbit, wearing a bow tie and tuxedo and speaking like a human, had introduced itself as a 'Helper'.
In front of it, 101 people of various genders, ages, and occupations were looking around in bewilderment.
The Helper, leisurely observing their expressions, floated up into the air, spread its short arms, and chirped cheerfully:
[The game you're about to play is a life-or-death survival game! Wow! Sounds fun, right?]
'Fun, my ass. Crazy rabbit bastard.'
This must be what they call a life-flashing-before-your-eyes moment.
On the verge of death, Jeong Da-woon was reliving the past month, the cruelest and most horrific period of his life.
He was dying moment by moment, but the more he thought about it, the more he gritted his teeth in anger.
Anyone would be dumbfounded to suddenly open their eyes and find themselves standing in such a strange place with unfamiliar people.
How many people are like novel protagonists, able to instantly grasp what's going on and react accordingly?
"A game? What are the rules?"
Amidst the people murmuring about hidden cameras or movie sets, a female student timidly raised her hand.
She seemed timid but looked sharp.
[Kkyu? What are the rules, you ask?]
The tuxedoed rabbit tilted its head at the student's question, acting cute.
Despite having introduced itself as a Helper, it didn't answer but instead, with a refreshing smile, suddenly shrugged its shoulders and began to sing.
[Ta-ran, tan-tan! Learn-as-you-die Dungeon Game! Dungeon Game!]
"What the hell are you talking about! You crazy rabbit bastard! Where the hell are we!"
Provoked by the rabbit's answer, a menacing-looking thug (lit. "cubed radish kimchi," slang for a blocky, thuggish person) burst out, spewing curses at the rabbit.
He was a man in a black suit, perhaps a gangster or a delinquent, someone whose mouth and tongue seemed automatically loaded with every curse in the world.
As the man charged fiercely to grab it, the rabbit cutely winked one eye and flicked its hand.
[Then, I'll tell you an important rule first. Number one: Always be kind to the Game Helper.]
Flash!
"...!"
In that instant, something swung, and a sharp light glinted.
And then, the head of the burly man who had been charging so ferociously separated from his neck.
His head fell with a thud and rolled across the floor.
And then… Fwssh!
Bright red blood spurted out.
That series of events was so shocking, it's still vivid in my mind.
"...Huh?"
Seeing the instantly frozen expressions of the people, the rabbit clutched its stomach in mid-air and cackled.
[Kyahaha! He's dead, dead! See? You just learn things one by one like this! So easy, right?]
People's faces turned pale in an instant.
"H-he's really dead!?"
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
My senses snapped to attention.
The metallic stench of blood spreading sharply through the air.
The sight of the talking rabbit, smiling brightly in front of it all, was so incongruous and surreal, it felt like watching a B-grade horror movie.
But this was no dream, nor was it a hidden camera prank.
It didn't take long to realize this was the brutal reality confronting them.
[Heh. Exactly 100 people now, huh? Well then! Shall we officially begin?]
The creature declared to the terrified people:
[Then, try to survive somehow! Dungeon Game! Start!]
And so, the Dungeon Game—no, 'Hell'—began.
Monsters attacking moment by moment from the darkness.
Life-threatening, perilous traps.
As time went on, people continued to die.
Let your guard down, you died. Make a mistake, you died.
Sometimes, situations arose where they had to kill each other to survive.
Those who had survived through all those dangers had finally arrived here today.
The end of the dungeon.
The final ruin where the boss awaited.
KUKUNG!
After an all-out battle, the final monster finally fell.
"I-it's over!"
[Good job! You all worked very hard!]
As the battle ended, the Helper appeared before the survivors.
The Helper Rabbit's attire changed slightly each time it appeared before people, and today it was in a particularly dressed-up suit.
[Truly amazing! To think those oh-so-weak people would eventually defeat this terrifying final boss!]
More excited than ever, the creature flew around in the sky.
[Kyahat. Humans are indeed amusing! Where else in the whole wide world is there a species that grows this fast! Fascinating! Fascinating!]
In terms of time, only a month, a mere four weeks, had passed.
But in that short time, they had certainly changed in many ways compared to the beginning.
Those who had fought countless monsters and won fierce struggles where they killed each other. No, those who had survived.
Out of all those game participants, only seven had survived to this point.
The final seven.
They dragged their wounded and exhausted bodies, but their eyes shone with intensity.
Just then, a man blocked the path of the fuss-making rabbit.
"Helper. Can we go back now? To our original world?"
[Kyaa. Nice voice! Mr. Ryu Seung-woo, you always look so cool! Even if you only have one arm.]
The Helper looked at the man, squirming as if embarrassed.
The one-armed man, Ryu Seung-woo.
He was a figure who had shown unparalleled performance among the 100 participants.
His body, said to have originally belonged to a Taekwondo master, had been well-trained from the moment he arrived here.
He also possessed the leadership to encourage and guide the confused people.
Though he had lost an arm in the process.
"Cut the crap! It's all over now, so send us home!"
The survivors next to Ryu Seung-woo also couldn't hold back and stepped forward.
But the rabbit suddenly tilted its head and looked at them with a strange expression.
[Eeh? What nonsense have you all been spouting? Why go home all of a sudden? You should ride this momentum and energetically move on to the 'next round'!]
Freeze.
"...What?"
In an instant, the survivors' expressions hardened.
Ryu Seung-woo pressed, flustered.
"What do you mean by that! You definitely said last time that the dungeon would be cleared once we finished the boss mission!"
[Yes. So, that means Stage-1 has just ended. Now you must depart for the next dungeon, right?]
"...!"
At those words, the final seven were aghast.
"What!? The next dungeon!?"
"All this time was only Stage 1!?"
The rabbit chuckled, covering its mouth with a pfft.
[Oh my? Don't tell me you thought this was the end? Ahang, did I not mention it? Sorry. It slipped my mind.]
'We've been tricked!'
It was clear to anyone that it had deliberately avoided mentioning it for this very moment.
Numerous intense emotions surged from the seven participants who realized this.
First, bewilderment, then rage.
And finally, they despaired.
Their only hope of finally escaping this hell had vanished.
[The Dungeon Game truly begins now.]
Hell was still ongoing.
Meanwhile, there was someone who had fallen behind even in that hell.
"Haak... Cough!"
Even as he was dying, Jeong Da-woon couldn't hide his look of utter emptiness.
[The Dungeon Game truly begins now.]
Although he was far away, strangely, the Helper's voice could be heard anywhere in the dungeon.
That was the Helper's ability.
Having heard everything the Helper said to the final seven, Jeong Da-woon decided to just accept death peacefully.
[Hehe. Eish, why are you all acting like this? Like amateurs who've never played a game before? A game's no fun if it's just one round.]
To think they thought it was the final boss, only to find out they had just defeated a mere stage boss.
'Maybe it's a relief to die now...'
It had felt so futile and unfair to die in a trap right before the end.
Unfair, my ass. The real hardship is just beginning, apparently.
[Alright! No time to rest! No time to rest! Learn-as-you-die Dungeon Game! Dungeon Game! Open, Sesame! Open, Dungeon Gate!]
'Ugh. That crazy rabbit bastard.'
The rabbit's voice, chattering ceaselessly as if it never tired, was incredibly grating even as he was dying.
[You lazybones! Can't you see the Dungeon Gate is open? Stop dawdling and hurry, hurry, let's move on!]
Jeong Da-woon, since he was going to die anyway, desperately wanted to punch that rabbit right in the solar plexus, just once, really just once, before he died.
[Aish, really. Are you tired? It's okay, it's okay! This is what the stage clear reward is for! Hya! Hya!]
'Ah, I wish that snout would just shut up... Huh?'
Sareureuk.
Just then, glittering silver particles floated down before Jeong Da-woon's eyes.
'Huh? Huh?'
Truly a beautiful sight.
But it wasn't just beautiful.
The moment the silver dust seeped into his body, something astounding happened.
[Survivor Fully Healed!]
'My wounds... are healing?'
His eyes widened.
All his wounds, which had been on the verge of killing him, were rapidly healing.
Not only his wounds but even his blood-soaked, torn, and tattered clothes were being restored to a clean state.
'No way!'
This was a miracle.
New strength was welling up within him.
He had been saved from the brink of death, a narrow escape!
Just then, the rabbit's voice was heard.
[There, there. All better now, right? Wow, Mr. Ryu Seung-woo! You look much cooler with two arms! Anyway, now hurry, hurry! Let's move on to the next stage!]
Startled by those words, Jeong Da-woon shot up and yelled towards the outside.
"W-wait! Me too...! Take me too! I'm alive here!"
Here! He-re-!
Jeong Da-woon's voice, now back in top condition, resounded thunderously within the trap.
But unfortunately, the distance was too great, and his voice didn't reach anyone.
[Departing for Stage-2!]
Was it just his imagination?
Ryu Seung-woo, who was walking towards the gate at the rabbit's urging, suddenly stopped and looked back.
As he was about to leave, he remembered his precious comrade who had tragically lost his life by falling into a trap at the very end.
'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you until the end, Jeong Da-woon...'
With a regretful expression, he glanced once in the direction of the trap and then turned back.
And… the gate closed.
Jjeojeok!
....
The ruins, instantly silent.
"Wait! I'm here!"
Jeong Da-woon shouted in panic.
"Is anyone there!?"
Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
There was no one in this dungeon to answer his futile voice echoing from underground.
In the end, Jeong Da-woon, unable to follow them, was left behind alone in the corner of the trap.
Soon after, a strange sound reached his ears.
[The dungeon will now reset.]
"...What?"