The deeper Akari and Memory traveled into the dungeon, the quieter the world became.
The cave spiders had long disappeared.
The sentry guards they encountered earlier had already been defeated.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the underground tunnels.
Blue crystals embedded into the walls provided faint illumination.
Their glow reflected across the damp stone floor while shadows stretched endlessly into the darkness ahead.
Memory hugged Bubbles tightly against her chest.
The little blue slime trembled every time an unfamiliar sound echoed somewhere in the cavern.
"Don't worry."
Memory gently rubbed the slime.
"We beat the spiders."
Bubbles made a small squeaking noise.
It clearly wasn't convinced.
Akari walked several steps ahead of them.
Narukami rested over her shoulder.
Her eyes remained focused on the tunnel ahead.
Ever since hearing stories about Rio's accomplishments—
Floor Two.
Elite raids.
Guild battles.
Hidden quests.
Rare skills.
Something inside Akari had changed.
She wanted to become stronger.
Not because she wanted to catch up to Rio.
Not because she wanted to surpass her.
But because she wanted to walk her own path.
A path she could be proud of.
A path she earned herself.
The tunnel continued for several more minutes.
Then suddenly—
the passage widened.
Both girls stopped.
"...Huh?"
Akari blinked.
Memory slowly lowered Bubbles.
Directly ahead stood an enormous stone door.
It towered nearly fifteen feet high.
Ancient symbols covered its surface.
The stone itself looked centuries old.
Cracks spread throughout the structure.
Yet somehow—
it remained completely intact.
The door almost felt alive.
Memory's eyes widened.
"Wait."
Akari looked back.
"What?"
Memory pointed dramatically.
"I think that's a hidden dungeon."
Silence.
Akari stared.
Memory stared.
Bubbles stared.
The slime didn't actually understand what was happening.
It simply copied Memory.
Memory immediately rushed forward.
Her excitement exploded.
"No way."
"No way."
"No way."
Akari tilted her head.
"What?"
Memory practically bounced in place.
"Akari!"
"Do you know what this means!?"
"No."
"This means we found something rare!"
Memory pointed at the giant stone door.
"Players spend weeks looking for hidden dungeons!"
"Some guilds spend months!"
Akari looked back at the door.
Still unimpressed.
"Oh."
Memory almost collapsed.
"OH!?"
"THAT'S YOUR RESPONSE!?"
Akari shrugged.
"What else am I supposed to say?"
Memory looked ready to cry.
"That's a hidden dungeon!"
"A hidden dungeon!"
"Do you know how valuable that is!?"
Akari finally nodded.
"Okay."
"I understand."
Memory sighed.
"Good."
Akari immediately started walking toward the door.
Memory froze.
"...Wait."
Akari continued walking.
"Wait."
Akari placed her hand on the door.
Memory's eyes widened.
"WAIT."
The giant stone door trembled.
A deep rumble echoed throughout the cavern.
The entire structure slowly began opening.
Dust exploded into the air.
Ancient mechanisms groaned.
Stone scraped against stone.
The door was opening.
Memory panicked.
"AKARI!"
Akari glanced back.
"What?"
"We should leave!"
Akari blinked.
"...Why?"
Memory pointed at the opening entrance.
"Because that's how people die!"
Akari stared.
Memory stared.
Akari looked back at the opening dungeon.
Then toward Memory.
Then back at the dungeon.
"I'll be careful."
Memory looked horrified.
Those were famous last words.
The moment the entrance fully opened—
Akari walked inside.
Without hesitation.
Without fear.
Without a single survival instinct.
Memory stood there.
Completely stunned.
"...She went in."
Bubbles made a worried squeak.
Memory pointed at the entrance.
"She actually went in."
The slime nodded.
Or at least attempted to.
Memory groaned.
Then hurried after her.
"AKARI WAIT FOR ME!"
The moment Memory crossed the threshold—
The giant door slammed shut behind them.
BOOOOOOM
The sound echoed throughout the underground structure.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Silence followed.
A very uncomfortable silence.
Memory slowly turned around.
The door wasn't opening.
Not even slightly.
"...We're trapped."
Akari looked surprisingly calm.
"Probably."
Memory looked ready to faint.
The room beyond the entrance was enormous.
Far larger than any dungeon chamber they had seen before.
Ancient pillars stretched toward a ceiling hidden in darkness.
Rows of terracotta soldiers lined the walls.
Hundreds of them.
Motionless.
Silent.
Watching.
At least—
it felt like they were watching.
A cold chill traveled down Memory's spine.
Bubbles immediately hid inside her arms.
Then suddenly—
a faint red light appeared.
Akari noticed first.
At the far end of the chamber.
Beyond the endless rows of terracotta warriors.
Beyond the pillars.
Beyond the darkness.
There was a throne.
An enormous throne.
Carved entirely from ancient stone.
And sitting upon it—
was something massive.
Memory's breathing stopped.
Akari slowly tightened her grip on Narukami.
The figure moved.
Ancient stone cracked.
Dust fell from its body.
Then—
two dark red eyes opened.
The entire chamber trembled.
The giant slowly rose from the throne.
It stood over four meters tall.
Its body was constructed entirely from ancient terracotta armor.
Cracks spread across its surface.
Glowing red energy leaked from between those cracks.
The monster's helmet resembled that of an ancient emperor.
Its shoulders were broader than a doorway.
A gigantic stone blade rested beside the throne.
The creature slowly grabbed it.
The sound alone shook the room.
Memory's face turned pale.
A system notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Hidden Dungeon Discovered]
Terracotta Armory
Difficulty: Unknown
Hidden Boss Encounter Initiated
Dungeon Guardian:
Terracotta Warlord
Level: ???
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Memory stared.
Then stared again.
Then looked at Akari.
Then looked back at the boss.
"...Akari."
"Yeah?"
"We should run."
Akari stared at the giant warlord.
Its red eyes stared back.
The pressure alone felt overwhelming.
Every instinct told her this enemy was dangerous.
Far beyond anything they had fought before.
Far beyond boars.
Far beyond spiders.
Far beyond sentry guards.
Yet—
instead of fear—
Akari felt excitement.
Her grip tightened around Narukami.
Lightning slowly crackled across the blade.
The giant Terracotta Warlord stepped forward.
The entire dungeon shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Ancient warriors lining the walls suddenly began glowing red.
One after another.
Then another.
Then another.
Hundreds of crimson eyes opened throughout the chamber.
Memory nearly screamed.
"AKARI!"
Akari smiled.
A smile identical to Rio's when facing a challenge.
"Looks like we found something interesting."
Memory looked ready to pass out.
Bubbles looked ready to pass out.
The Terracotta Warlord raised its massive sword.
And the Hidden Dungeon finally began.
The Terracotta Armory erupted into motion.
Hundreds of crimson eyes illuminated the darkness.
Ancient stone soldiers that had stood dormant for centuries suddenly awakened.
The sound was horrifying.
Stone grinding against stone.
Armor scraping.
Ancient weapons shifting.
The entire chamber trembled as the Terracotta Army slowly raised their spears, swords, shields, and bows.
Rows upon rows of warriors filled the massive hall.
From the front lines to the distant throne where the Terracotta Warlord stood, there seemed to be no end to them.
Memory's face turned pale.
"Akari..."
"This feels really bad."
Akari tightened her grip on her sword.
"I noticed."
The Terracotta Warlord slowly raised its massive stone blade.
The moment it pointed forward—
The entire army obeyed.
Thousands of weapons aimed directly at the two girls.
Memory immediately hid behind Akari.
"AKARI."
"Yeah?"
"I have made a terrible life decision."
Akari didn't respond.
Her eyes remained focused on the army.
Lightning slowly crackled around her hand.
A violet system window appeared before her vision.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Narukami Tenri]
Unique Divine Skill Effect:
Allows user to access Narukami, The Divine Thunder God's Power
Grants Divine Blade:
[Narukami Tenrai]
A blade forged from divine lightning.
User is permanently locked from equipping other weapons.
Power scales with mastery.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Purple lightning exploded around her.
CRACKLE
Memory jumped.
Bubbles nearly launched itself into orbit.
A moment later—
A beautiful katana appeared in Akari's hand.
Its blade wasn't metal.
It was pure lightning.
Divine purple energy continuously flowed across the weapon.
The surrounding air distorted.
Electricity danced across the floor.
Even the Terracotta Army hesitated for a brief moment.
Akari slowly exhaled.
Then lowered her stance.
She remembered every second she spent training.
Every failed attempt.
Every missed attack.
Every bird she accidentally struck.
This time—
She was determined to hit her target.
"NARUKAMI!"
Divine lightning exploded around her.
[Narukami First Form: Thunder Strike]
BOOOOOM
Akari lunged forward.
A concentrated beam of divine lightning erupted from her sword.
The attack shot across the battlefield.
Memory's eyes widened.
"It's actually going straight!"
Then—
The attack suddenly curved.
Memory stared.
"...Why?"
The lightning missed the entire front line.
Instead—
It struck a completely different group of Terracotta Warriors standing thirty meters away.
BOOOOOM
Stone exploded.
Pieces of terracotta flew everywhere.
Five warriors were instantly destroyed.
Akari froze.
Memory froze.
The surviving Terracotta Warriors froze.
Akari slowly lowered her sword.
"I meant to hit the front ones."
Memory pointed.
"You missed by an entire army formation."
"I still hit something."
"THAT ISN'T THE POINT."
The Terracotta Army immediately answered with violence.
Dozens of arrows flew through the air.
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
Akari reacted instantly.
Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
The Divine Blade flashed.
Lightning exploded around her.
Several arrows shattered apart.
Others missed entirely.
The remaining Terracotta Warriors charged.
Their spears lowered.
Their swords raised.
A wave of ancient soldiers surged toward them.
Akari smiled.
Finally—
Something she could actually hit.
"Come on!"
She dashed forward.
CRACK
Lightning exploded beneath her feet.
The Divine Blade moved.
One slash.
A Terracotta Warrior lost its head.
A second slash.
Another shattered across the chest.
A third strike.
A spear snapped apart.
Stone fragments scattered throughout the battlefield.
Unlike her ranged attacks—
Akari's close combat was surprisingly effective.
Her swordsmanship wasn't refined.
It wasn't elegant.
But it was aggressive.
Direct.
Instinctive.
Every movement carried overwhelming power.
Every strike destroyed another warrior.
Memory stared.
"...She's actually cool."
Akari immediately tripped over a broken shield.
"OW."
Memory sighed.
"Never mind."
Meanwhile—
Memory found herself surrounded.
Four Terracotta Warriors closed in from different directions.
Their spears lunged simultaneously.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT—"
THRUST
THRUST
THRUST
THRUST
The spears pierced straight through her body.
Memory froze.
Akari screamed.
"MEMORY!"
The battlefield stopped.
Even Memory looked confused.
She looked down.
The spears had gone through her chest.
Her arms.
Her stomach.
Her shoulder.
Yet—
There was no blood.
No damage.
No pain.
Instead—
The pierced sections of her body had transformed into water.
Liquid rippled around the spearheads.
The weapons simply passed through her.
Memory blinked.
"...Huh?"
The Terracotta Warriors blinked.
Memory poked herself.
Nothing.
She looked at her arm.
The entire arm transformed into flowing water.
Then returned to normal.
She stared.
Then stared harder.
Then stared even harder.
"WAIT."
Akari paused mid-slash.
"What?"
Memory raised both hands.
They transformed into water.
Then returned.
Then transformed again.
Then returned.
Memory's eyes widened.
"I THINK I'M IMMORTAL."
Akari immediately replied.
"You're definitely not."
"But look!"
Memory spread her arms.
One Terracotta Warrior stabbed her again.
The spear passed through harmlessly.
Memory pointed dramatically.
"SEE?"
The Terracotta Warrior seemed confused.
Memory seemed confused.
Akari seemed confused.
Bubbles seemed excited.
The slime bounced around happily.
Memory suddenly realized something.
"If physical attacks pass through me..."
Her eyes slowly widened.
A dangerous idea formed.
The same type of dangerous idea that usually led to disasters.
Akari immediately recognized the expression.
"Oh no."
Memory pointed at a Terracotta Warrior.
"No."
Memory pointed at another one.
"Memory."
Her watery arm stretched several meters forward.
"MEMORY."
The arm wrapped around a Terracotta Warrior's neck.
Memory grinned.
Then yanked.
BOOOOM
The Terracotta Warrior flew across the room.
It smashed into three others.
All four exploded into pieces.
Silence.
Memory stared.
Akari stared.
The Terracotta Army stared.
Memory slowly looked at her hands.
Then she smiled.
A very dangerous smile.
"Akari."
"What."
"I think I figured out my power."
Akari immediately backed away.
Because every time someone said those words—
Something ridiculous happened.
And unfortunately—
She was right.
The Terracotta Army was about to learn exactly why.
Far above them—
The giant Terracotta Warlord watched from its throne.
Its crimson eyes narrowed.
The battle had only just begun.
And already—
The two rookie players were proving far more troublesome than expected.