It was cold.
I could feel the rough pavement pressing against my cheek, the faint smell of rusted iron mixing with something rotten.
For a moment, I couldn't move. My mind was still catching up to what happened — that trap, that flash of light, and Aki.
I saved her.
But why?
Why did I do that?
"I'm not the type to play hero…" I muttered weakly.
And yet, I did.
My thoughts felt disjointed, floating in and out of focus.
Still, one question clawed through the fog in my head.
"Where… am I?"
I forced myself to sit up. My hand pressed against the ground — cold, cracked stone. The place smelled old, almost ancient.
When my eyes adjusted, I saw them.
Chests.
Dozens — no, hundreds of them.
They lined both sides of the hall, perfectly symmetrical. Their golden rims glimmered faintly, reflecting the dim torchlight that barely kept the shadows at bay.
At the far end stood a throne, large and ornate, half-buried in shadow.
It looked… wrong here.
Out of place.
The torches flickered suddenly, as if startled awake.
Light rippled across the hall — warm, orange, alive.
I could see everything now.
The chests were massive, carved with intricate designs and symbols I didn't recognize.
The air felt heavy, like it had been undisturbed for centuries.
The silence was oppressive.
"Lick…"
The sound froze my body completely.
A wet, dragging sound — like flesh scraping against stone.
My breath caught in my throat.
I turned, but there was nothing. Just the endless row of chests staring back, lifeless and still.
No… not staring. Watching.
I took a cautious step back. My foot brushed against the first step leading to the throne.
"Okay," I whispered. "Calm down. Probably… some monster. Or just the wind. Maybe rats."
But even as I said it, I didn't believe it.
The air was too still. Too dead for wind.
I turned toward the throne, inspecting it for runes, hidden levers, anything that might be an exit.
Nothing. Just cold stone and gold plating.
That left the chests.
If I could open one… maybe I'd find something. A clue. A weapon.
The familiar warmth tingled through my fingers — my skill reacting.
The outlines of the chests began to glow faintly in my vision, like veins of light spreading from my hands.
It was the same as before.
That gentle tug, that pull that urged me to reach out.
Maybe this was it. My luck turning around for once.
A hall full of chests — maybe the world was throwing me a bone after all.
"Alright," I whispered, forcing a smile. "Let's see what you've got for me."
I reached out. My fingertips brushed the lid.
"Lick."
That sound again.
Closer.
I froze mid-motion. Slowly, my eyes turned toward the sound.
Nothing. Just the endless rows of silent boxes.
I swallowed hard. "It's fine. You're fine, Satoru. Just—open it."
I took a breath. "Box Op—"
Pain.
A flash. A bite.
The world twisted violently.
I didn't even understand what happened until I saw it.
My hand — gone.
Where it should've been, there was only a stump. Blood gushed like a fountain, spraying across the floor in rhythmic bursts.
The scream tore itself from my throat before I could stop it.
"GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
The sound echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the walls, filling the silence that had felt endless just seconds ago.
I fell to my knees, clutching the stump. The pain was blinding.
It wasn't just pain — it was heat, acid, lightning, everything.
It was the kind of agony that devoured thought.
My vision swam red. My pulse hammered in my ears.
"No… no no no no—please, no!"
I pressed my arm against my chest, trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood just slipped through my fingers, hot and endless.
"I—It hurts—it hurts—it hurts—!"
I couldn't think.
I couldn't breathe.
Then, through the blur, I saw it.
The chest I tried to open — it was moving.
The lid split open, jagged edges glinting like teeth.
A dark, glistening tongue slithered out, dragging across the ground.
No… no, that's impossible—
But it wasn't alone.
All down the hall, I heard it.
Wood cracking. Metal hinges shrieking.
One by one, lids opened — slowly, rhythmically — like a grotesque applause.
Eyes rolled open beneath each lid, blinking wetly in the torchlight.
Dozens of them.
Hundreds.
Every single chest was alive.
They shifted.
Lids creaked as their jaws spread wider, strings of saliva stretching between them.
The air grew thicker, humid with their breath.
"Lick. Lick. Lick."
The sound came from everywhere now — a chorus of hunger.
Their tongues, purple and slick, swept across the floor, tasting.
Tasting me.
The nearest mimic twitched, its tongue dragging through my blood.
It shuddered like it had just tasted the finest meal in existence.
Then it started crawling toward me.
Wood splintering. Metal screeching.
Its limbs — deformed, spiderlike — clawed at the ground.
The others followed.
Dozens of them, scraping forward, leaving deep gouges in the floor as they advanced.
I stumbled backward, slipping on my own blood.
"No—no no no—stay away!"
I grabbed a loose shard of stone and threw it. It clanged harmlessly off one of their lids.
The mimic didn't even flinch.
It just kept coming.
Closer.
Faster.
Their movements were disjointed — not quite animal, not quite mechanical.
Just… wrong.
The sound of their tongues hitting the floor was unbearable. Wet. Sloppy. Hungry.
I kicked at one that lunged at me, slamming its lid shut — but as I turned, another had already crawled up the side of the throne.
It opened its mouth wide — too wide — and lunged.
The next moment, my legs disappeared.
Pain exploded through me.
The mimic's teeth sank into my waist, grinding down.
I could hear the crunch of my bones.
The pop of my joints.
The wet squelch of flesh tearing apart.
My body arched backward involuntarily, a strangled scream ripping from my throat.
"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!"
The sound didn't even sound human.
I punched at its lid, but my hand just tore open more, knuckles splitting, bones screaming.
I could feel myself being pulled downward — inch by inch — into its throat.
The air was filled with the smell of iron and saliva.
My vision blurred, tears and blood mixing as my thoughts dissolved into noise.
It hurts—it hurts—it hurts—it hurts—
The pain was constant, all-consuming. I could hear my heart hammering inside my skull.
"Why—why me…?"
The words barely left my lips.
As my consciousness flickered, something inside me snapped — not from pain, but from refusal.
Refusal to die like this.
To die worthless.
The mark on my chest burned, brighter and brighter, until it seared through my clothes.
Golden light burst from my body, flooding the hall.
The mimics screeched, their tongues curling in agony as the light spread like fire.
> [Skill Evolution Triggered: Box Opener → Lucky Box]
The world erupted.
The throne shattered.
The light swallowed everything —
the pain, the screams, even my heartbeat.
And then—
silence.