Chapter 10: Twinkle Twinkle Dungeon

[You have entered a Dungeon]

―

Name: Twinkle Twinkle Dungeon

Level: 5

Entry Limit: 3

―

[Please Select Difficulty]

Easy

Normal

Hard

Nightmare

―

Jaxir blinked. Honestly, he was kind of hoping to find some hidden treasure or something, but he guessed this was pretty much the same with some extra steps.

Normally, dungeons and their locations were pretty valuable in games like these. Sometimes guilds would even send people to protect and deter others from entering if said dungeon appeared in their territory.

"Then again, this dungeon was protected by all those foxes, so maybe it was a bit of a nightmare to get here."

Jaxir had joined the game too late, so he highly doubted he was the first to come across this Dungeon. But for whatever reason, there didn’t seem to be many players around looking to enter at all.

There was actually very good reason for that, Jaxir just wasn’t aware.

Currently, they were in the hibernation season for the twinkle twinkle bear. One would think that this would make the dungeon safer, but it was the exact opposite.

Triggering this dungeon during this time of year meant awakening the twinkle twinkle bear, which put them in a special enraged state that not only increased their stats by 100%, but also gave them a special "Endure" Ability that usually only rare Tank Classes could receive.

"Endure" increased defenses greatly the closer to 0 HP one got, and also allowed one to survive one fatal blow before finally dying. This made the already difficult to handle twinkle twinkle bears almost infinitely more dangerous.

It wasn’t something that people wanted to deal with.

Of course, experts and hardcore gamers would often come to this dungeon specifically for that challenge. But for one, it was nearing the end of the hibernation period so it was less at the forefront of their minds, and second, this was still a beginner level Dungeon.

The game had been out for too long, and most of those that fell into the "hardcore" category had long left the Tutorial Zone.

Unfortunately, Jaxir didn’t know any of this. All he saw were those four glowing lines wiggling about in front of him and then his eyes landed on "Nightmare" as though it was calling for him.

Did he have any special equipment? No.

Was he max level for the dungeon? Also no.

Did he have any information, maps, or downloaded strats? Most definitely no.

But he’d be damned if he pussied out in a video game. He had done enough of that in real life.

Jaxir took a quick peek to make sure his HP and MP were topped up, then he chuckled and selected "Nightmare". What was the worst that could happen?

If he died, it was just a video game.

―

[You have selected "Nightmare" Difficulty]

―

There was a warping light that twinkled like the stars in the night sky for a moment, and then it was flooded and washed away by dense crimson and black.

A sinister music played in Jaxir’s ears and for a moment he was transported back to his childhood. The echoes of boss music made him place a hand on his heart and look ahead in a bit of a daze.

He had always liked competition no matter what form it took. Where had that childish flare for victory gone?

"Nowhere." Jaxir whispered to himself as he vanished into the dungeon.

...

Jaxir’s body was dropped a centimeter or two. By the time his vision cleared, he was already on high alert.

He found himself in a cave. The ceiling was covered in crystal that seemed to have silver and gold fireflies moving back and forth within them.

The floor and walls were as dark as obsidian, though. It seemed the only point of light would come from above.

Jaxir looked behind him and found a black wall of rock. It seemed that the only path forward was the one ahead, but that one quickly forked off into two paths.

"A maze, maybe?" Jaxir’s eyes narrowed. A hint of the sharpness he displayed earlier came back, but that didn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face. "Let’s go right, then."

Jaxir slowly made his way forward. The instant he chose the right path, something shifted in the world around him. As though there had been a veil blocking his vision before, two twinkle twinkle foxes appeared.

Jaxir reacted on instinct like he had been locked in battle all his life.

He immediately sent out two Casts before the two twinkle twinkle foxes could even turn toward him.

Both creatures were forced into the ground, catching Jaxir off guard a little bit. Then he realized what happened.

During his battle on the valley he had been completely focused on "throwing" Cast faster, and on how he could make it denser so that he could more easily knock the leaping foxes off balance.

He had also grown used to attacking from the five to six meter range as well.

But these two foxes were only three or so steps in front of him, barely more than a meter. When they took the full brunt of his efforts, it was like a mountain had crashed down on him.

They weren’t very heavy creatures to begin with, so tossing them about was a ton easier. And not only that, but...

[-11]

[-11]

"So much damage."

Jaxir hadn’t really been paying attention to how much damage he was dealing in the valley either, but he doubted it was this much. This should be a buff given how close the distance is too.

He almost lamented that he was such a glass cannon.

Almost.

Jaxir sent out two more Casts before the foxes could even scramble back up to their feet. Orbs of white light, rotating like speeding bullets through the air smashed against their heads and skewered them into motes of light.

"Hm. No experience. No coins either. Is that because it’s a dungeon? I guess I’ll get everything after the fact, then."

Jaxir didn’t mind it and continued forward. He didn’t make it very far before there were another two foxes blocking his path ahead, but this time they spotted him first.

One leapt at the wall, racing across it and leaving little paw prints of twinkling light in its wake. It must have been some sort of movement ability Jaxir hadn’t seen before.

"No, wait, I have seen it―."

Jaxir split his bullets into two streams again, but one was coming from his left, racing across the wall, and the other was coming from his right, lunging at his leg.

He managed to hit the first, but the second dodged. His eyes couldn’t lock onto two such different places at the same time and calculate their trajectory perfectly.

[-11]

The second twinkle twinkle fox was fast, already lunging at Jaxir’s leg before he had the time to even think about dodging.

Honestly, Jaxir knew that even the attempt was ridiculous. He didn’t have the Body stats, and he didn’t have the time to cast another Cast either.

[-13]

The fox slashed at Jaxir’s leg, ripping through his pants and lacerated his thigh.

It leapt and skid to a stop behind him, already lunging again.

"Dammit." Jaxir frowned. He was angry with himself. This was only happening because he missed.

Now, one fox was recovering in front of him, gearing up to attack again, while another was behind him. If he missed while they were both in front of him, there was no way he could manage to hit them like this.

But if he started using his Vestigem Cards this early, what would he do when he came across the bosses? He was sure a Nightmare Dungeon would have at least one.

The two foxes lunged at Jaxir.