The cave got darker and quieter the deeper Null went. The glowing moss along the walls barely lit the way, throwing long, twitching shadows that made the stone look alive. He'd already smashed his way through the skeletons near the entrance, but now… the silence pressed in. Too thick. Too heavy. The kind that comes right before something bad happens. Something was definitely wrong here he just cant pinpoint to what.
He slowed down, his hand resting on the hilt of his Frostfang Sword. "Something's off here, Stella," he whispered.
A low growl rumbled beside him. Stella, her golden scales looking dull in the weird light, pressed her shoulder against his leg. Even though she couldn't talk, he could feel her worry through their bond—a nervous, prickly feeling.
Null gave a sharp nod. "Yeah. Stay close." If anything happens Stella got his back
Then, the air changed.
A low hum started, coming from deep within the stone itself. Suddenly, red symbols he hadn't noticed before flared to life on the floor beneath his feet, glowing with an evil light. The ground started to shake.
"What the—"
Before he could finish, the floor just… disappeared. A swirling, black vortex opened up right under him, sucking him down like a whirlpool. This was not how he imagined the way he would go.
"Stella!" he yelled, but it was too late. The hole swallowed him whole and snapped shut with a flash of dark light, leaving no trace he was ever there.
When Null's head stopped spinning, everything was almost pitch black and freezing cold.
He blinked, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light from a few flickering torches on the walls. He was in a narrow, damp stone corridor that smelled like rotten meat and old blood. When he tried to move, heavy chains clanked at his wrists and ankles.
He was in a prison cell. Well this is not a good starting point
A system message burned in front of his eyes, its red text feeling like a death sentence.
[You have entered a Special Map: The Ghoul's Larder]
[Due to unknown interference, your resurrection point has been forcibly changed to this location.]
Null's blood ran cold. A special map that changed his respawn point? That meant if he died here, he wouldn't wake up back in Aethelburg. He'd just come right back to this cell. He was trapped.
He yanked at the chains, but they didn't budge. They were covered in faintly glowing runes. He tried to summon his Frostfang Sword, but nothing happened. His inventory was locked. The game had taken everything from him.
A rough, tired voice came from the cell next to his. "Don't bother. You'll just tire yourself out."
Null turned. An older man was slumped against the bars, his face pale and his eyes hollow, like all the hope had been drained out of them. Hopefully i dont end up like that.
"Where am I?" Null asked, his voice low.
"The Ghoul's Larder," the man rasped. "We're livestock here. They keep us locked up until they get hungry."
Null's stomach twisted. "Hungry? They... eat people?"
The man let out a dry, broken laugh. "Not like you're thinking. They don't want your flesh. They feed on your life force—your energy, your soul. They drain you until you're an empty shell, then toss you aside."
The chains rattled as Null clenched his fists. "And no one tries to fight back?"
"Fight back with what?" the man whispered, his voice full of a bitterness that sounded years old. "Our gear is sealed. The cells are magic. Those who struggle... they get eaten first."
Null's mind raced. He reached inward, through his bond, and felt a flicker of warmth and worry. Stella. She was still there, safe in her companion space. She hadn't been pulled into this nightmare with him. It was the only piece of good news he had.
He had to find a way out. Before he ended up like the ghost of a man in the next cell.
A few minutes later, the sound of dragging footsteps echoed down the hall. All the other prisoners fell completely silent. The torches flickered as two figures shambled out of the shadows.
They were tall and skinny, with gray skin stretched so tight over their bones you could see every rib. Their eyes glowed with a sickly green light.
Ghouls.
Null had fought skeletons, but these things were different. They felt smart, and the hunger rolling off them was a physical thing, making the air feel thick and cold.
The taller one, its neck bent at a wrong angle, sniffed the air. Its head slowly turned, and those green eyes locked onto Null's cell. A disgusting smile split its face, showing off rows of pointy, needle-like teeth.
"You… you smell different," it hissed, its voice like scraping stone.
Null stared right back, refusing to look away. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."
The ghoul let out a wet, rasping chuckle. "So much spirit. You'll burn bright, but you'll burn out fast in here."
Null focused, and a info window popped up.
[Name: Ghoul Rakar]
[Rank: Elite-tier]
[Level: 42]
His heart sank. Level 42. Even with his gear, that would be a tough fight. Unchained and unarmed? It was a death sentence.
The ghoul leaned close to the bars, its bony fingers tracing the metal. The runes on the cell glowed faintly. "My master will be very happy. It's been a long time since we caught someone with a… divine scent."
Null frowned. "Divine scent?"
Rakar's grin got wider. "Your blood. It sings with power. I can almost taste it from here."
It raised a clawed hand, and black energy crackled around its fingertips. Null felt a sudden, awful pulling sensation deep inside his chest, like something was trying to tear his very soul out.
He gritted his teeth and pushed back. He focused on the divine energy from his new class, imagining a wall of golden light inside him. A faint glow actually flickered around his body for a second, and the pulling sensation stopped.
Rakar jerked its hand back, hissing. "You dare resist me?"
"Guess I do," Null said, his voice tight.
The ghoul's smile returned, but now it was cold and cruel. "Feisty. I think I'll enjoy feeding on you myself."
With a snap of its bony fingers, the runes on Null's cell door faded. The lock clicked open.
Rakar pointed a long, twisted finger at him. "Out. Now."
Null hesitated, looking at the old man in the next cell. The man gave a tiny, almost invisible shake of his head. His lips formed the words: Don't. Not yet.
Swallowing his pride, Null stepped out of the cell. The chains on his wrists and ankles felt heavier than ever. Rakar's cold, hard hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"This way," the ghoul hissed.
As they walked down the long, twisting corridor, Null memorized everything. The strange symbols carved into the walls, the pulsing purple veins of magic under the stone, the locations of every heavy iron door. He could hear faint, muffled crying and weak moans coming from behind some of them. The sounds made his skin crawl.
The further they went, the colder it got. The air itself felt dead.
Finally, they entered a huge chamber. It was lit by hundreds of eerie green lanterns that gave no warmth. In the very center of the room was a giant altar, made of a single piece of black, shiny rock covered in glowing red symbols. Chains hung from the ceiling high above. Some were empty. Others… weren't.
Null's heart hammered against his ribs.
Rakar's voice was slick with hunger. "This is our dining room."
From the shadows all around the room, dozens more ghouls emerged. Their glowing green eyes all turned, in unison, to look at him.
He could feel it then—their hunger. It wasn't for his body. It was for the life inside him, for the energy that let him move and think and fight.
Rakar pointed to the space in front of the black altar. "Kneel."
Null's fear suddenly burned away, replaced by a cold, sharp anger. He looked the level 42 Elite ghoul right in its glowing eyes.
"Sorry," he said, a dangerous smile touching his lips. "I don't kneel for anyone."
Rakar's grin finally vanished. "Then you will scream."
The ghoul snapped its fingers. The runes on the floor exploded with dark light, and chains made of solid shadow shot up from the ground, wrapping around Null's arms and legs, holding him fast. He struggled, but they were like iron.
He was trapped, unarmed, and surrounded.
But as he stood there, bound before the monstrous ghoul, Null felt the familiar, cheat-like hum of his Null-Command trait stirring deep within him. It wasn't a weapon or a skill he could active. It was just… him. A part of his will.
The ghouls thought he was just another prisoner, a piece of cattle.
His eyes burned with a defiant fire. They were about to find out just how wrong they were.