The air in the chamber grew thick as the massive stone door twisted and unfurled, revealing something that was never meant to be seen. The glowing red eye in its center pulsed like a dying star, its gaze locking onto the intruders who had made it this far.

  James felt a chill crawl up his spine. This wasn’t just another dungeon boss. This thing was aware.

  “Uh… guys?” Lyra’s voice was quiet, tense.

  Then the grinding grew louder. The stone itself groaned like a living creature in agony as the entire room shifted, the walls around them twisting unnaturally. Symbols flared to life along the edges of the chamber, bathing everything in an eerie, blood-red glow.

  Then, the eye blinked.

  And the world snapped sideways.

  James’s stomach lurched as gravity shifted—or maybe reality itself did. One second he was standing on solid ground, the next he was tumbling sideways through the air. The entire party was thrown apart, scattering across the shifting battlefield.

  James hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop against a jagged stone outcrop. He groaned, pushing himself up—just in time to see it move.

  The door was no longer just a door.

  It unfolded into something impossible—a massive, twisting structure of stone and metal, shifting like clockwork mechanisms that shouldn’t exist. The eye at its center stretched unnaturally, splitting into three separate pupils, each burning with violent intent.

  [??? has awakened.]

  James barely had time to register the system notification before the boss attacked.

  A piercing hum filled the air, growing into a deafening screech as the entity vanished—not teleported, not moved, just ceased to be in one place and was suddenly in another.

  Right next to Riona.

  She barely had time to react before one of its twisted, shifting appendages pierced clean through her chest.

  Riona choked, eyes wide, before she was yanked backward—her body vanishing into the void that pulsed at the center of the entity.

  Then she was gone.

  “WHAT THE FUCK?!” Lillian shouted.

  No death screen. No respawn notification. Just gone.

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  James barely had time to process it before the boss shifted again.

  It flickered—appearing behind Garrick this time. The warrior spun, raising his shield—

  Too slow.

  The boss imploded into itself, dragging him forward in an instant. One second he was there—the next, his body crumpled unnaturally, vanishing into the shifting mass.

  Lillian loosed an arrow in panic—only for it to twist midair and fly backward, striking her in the shoulder.

  She staggered, stunned for a half-second—just enough time for the boss to reappear in front of her.

  “No, no, NO—”

  Gone.

  James couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. His brain was screaming at him to do something, but what the fuck were they even fighting?!

  Lyra grabbed his arm, her eyes wide with panic. “James. Run.”

  The boss moved.

  They didn’t even get the chance to react.

  The last thing James saw was the entity’s burning red gaze locking onto him, the void at its core stretching open—

  Then, nothing.

  James barely had time to react before everything went black.

  For a moment, there was nothing. No sound, no feeling, just an overwhelming emptiness that swallowed him whole. Then—

  SCREAMING.

  Not from his team. From himself.

  He was back home. Sitting at his desk. The same monitor. The same chair. The same dim glow of his screen. But something was wrong. His hands weren’t moving. He wasn’t controlling them.

  He turned—only to see his own reflection in the darkened monitor. And it wasn’t moving with him.

  It was grinning.

  James opened his mouth, but his reflection spoke first.

  "You're not supposed to be here."

  The screen flickered. His keyboard melted away. The walls of his room stretched, distorting into something alien. His reflection twisted, the grin widening—splitting his face open into something monstrous—

  And then—

  Light.

  He gasped, reality snapping back into place.

  The void was gone. The dungeon was back. The boss loomed ahead, its massive, shifting form pulsing with darkness. His team was staggering to their feet, each looking shaken, pale, like they’d seen something worse than death itself.

  Riona cursed under her breath. “Okay. That was—” She didn’t finish. Just shook it off and tightened her grip on her spear.

  James didn’t need to ask. They had all seen something.

  And they all knew what had to happen next.

  No running. No resetting. No regrouping.

  They were going to kill this thing.

  Lyra was the first to move, vanishing in a blur of speed as she went for a precise strike. The boss rippled, void tendrils lashing out, but this time, they were ready.

  Garrick met the attack head-on, his shield absorbing the impact as James and Riona closed in from the sides. Lillian fired shot after shot, pinning the boss in place.

  It fought back harder this time. The void pulses came quicker. The nightmares returned. But they pushed through.

  Through the fear.

  Through the exhaustion.

  Through the goddamn trauma it tried to force down their throats.

  James drove his blade deep into the shifting mass at its core, his cursed sword drinking in the darkness. The creature screamed—a horrible, warping sound—before its form collapsed in on itself.

  And then, just like that—

  It was dead.

  The dungeon rumbled. The oppressive weight of the void lifted. And as they stood there, catching their breath, the reality of their victory sank in.

  James wiped the sweat from his brow. “Well. That sucked.”

  Lyra let out a weak laugh. “Yeah. Let’s not do that again.”

  Lillian groaned. “Too bad we still have the rest of the dungeon.”

  Garrick rolled his shoulders. “At least we’re still standing.”

  Riona nudged the boss’s remains with her boot. “Barely.”

  James glanced around. The fight had taken a toll, but they had won. And in the end, that was what mattered.

  For now.

  Because if this dungeon was anything to go by?

  There was worse ahead.