Day 1
She woke up.
Silence drowned everything around her. Above stood an enormous glass dome; stained windows covered in holy symbols allowed a sickly gray light to seep through. The floor was worn, cracked, stained with dried traces of blood here and there. It looked abandoned… but not entirely dead.
She understood nothing.
---
Day 2
She did not dare leave.
She remained exactly where she had awakened. She felt neither hunger nor sleep; she simply existed there, motionless, trying to find something familiar within that vast silent cathedral.
She remembered only one thing:
If you ever get lost, do not move. It will make it easier for someone to find you.
But eventually she took a step.
Then another.
Carefully, she wandered through the fogged glass dome until a reflection stopped her cold, like a carriage moments before crashing.
She did not remember her face.
But she knew that was not her.
Or worse.
She was not him.
Her eyes remained covered by a dark cloth. She wore a tight black uniform resembling a ceremonial leotard; high boots held by garters embraced her thighs. Nothing about those clothes fit the religious scenery surrounding her.
Too provocative.
Too strange.
Too… foreign.
And once again, she froze.
---
Day 3
She explored her body.
The loneliness and silence had begun tearing at her mind; she did not want to think about what she was, yet at the same time she desperately wanted to understand.
Her fingers brushed against her chest.
Soft.
She wore nothing underneath, so the contact made her shiver. She felt certain sensitive parts react to the touch, hardening, while a strange sensation spread lower through her body.
She shook her head violently.
Pushing those thoughts away.
She did not want to think about that.
---
Day 4
The massive door of the dome opened.
The thunderous sound echoed throughout the hall. The stained glass trembled as though anticipating disaster.
She remained in the center of the chamber, watching the intruders.
A mage.
A warrior.
A rogue.
And a crossbowman… although what he carried looked more like a rifle than a crossbow.
They dressed like fantasy heroes, yet their modern weapons shattered the illusion.
—SERA, the Fallen Saint.
The warrior's voice rang loudly. In one hand he held a strange device resembling a cellphone; its camera pointed directly at her.
The girl did not respond.
She could not deny that name.
Because she did not remember her own.
And yet… "Sera" felt familiar.
—Gewalt.
The blonde woman in the witch hat raised her staff proudly.
For a brief moment, Sera saw invisible threads connecting the other three adventurers. Pulses of light flowed through them, strengthening each one.
The warrior smiled.
A hungry smile.
He raised his double-bladed axe and lunged forward in a brutal leap. The weapon descended from above in a vertical strike that seemed capable of splitting the sky itself.
---
Day 5
She woke up.
Once again inside the dome.
There was no trace of the group.
But there was an answer.
She had died.
She remembered perfectly the feeling of the blade splitting her skull down through her torso. She remembered the blood. The pain.
Everything.
And then… nothing.
She had not fallen.
No corpse remained.
She had simply scattered apart like dust carried by the wind.
She ceased to exist.
There was no heaven.
No hell.
No thoughts.
Only absolute emptiness.
And now she was there again.
For the first time, fear arrived.
---
Day 6
A trio appeared.
A lancer pierced straight through her stomach and lifted her into the air.
Death.
---
Day 7
A sword severed her head.
---
Day 8
Lightning descended through the stained glass without shattering it.
It burned her alive.
---
Day 9
No one came.
She remained hidden behind a church bench, hugging her legs tightly.
The deaths blurred together inside her mind.
Though, if she was being honest with herself, most people took quite a while to actually kill her.
She was resilient.
Far too resilient.
---
Day 12
Two days of peace.
Then she died again.
She no longer wanted this.
She tried to escape, but the door never budged. Desperation exploded inside her and she kicked one of the cathedral pillars.
Stone cracked apart.
—What…?
She stepped back in shock.
She had discovered something new.
She was strong.
Ridiculously strong.
Then the door opened once more.
—It's true… look at her.
The black-haired boy smiled despite the bruises covering his face.
—You really believe those rumors?
asked another man, enormous enough to tower over her by three heads.
—Of course I do. She doesn't attack. Maybe the dungeon's broken.
—Broken?
—It happened before. Some mages tried tampering with an Entity's rules and the monsters stopped moving. Someone probably did the same thing here.
Derby sighed in relief.
If this boss was bugged, they could kill it easily and continue deeper into the cathedral.
—Come on, brother.
The younger one raised his sword excitedly while the older lifted a massive war hammer.
Then it happened.
A wet sound.
Disgusting.
A living crunch.
Sera's gloved fist slammed into the younger brother's forehead.
His skull exploded like an overripe fruit.
Derby tried to react—
But the second punch turned him into an unrecognizable mass.
—I killed them…
Sera stared at the ruined bodies.
Blood.
Bones.
Brains scattered everywhere.
It was not a beautiful sight.
But the blood was warm.
And for the first time since awakening, she felt safe.
The door opened again.
Two black knights slowly approached her. Dark blood dripped from the gaps in their armor.
Sera prepared herself to fight.
But they did not attack.
They simply gathered the corpses and dragged them out of the hall.
Allies.
The word surfaced in her mind as she watched the trail of blood disappear into the corridors.
She would no longer have to look at the bodies alone.
---
Day 16
The following days were… happy.
Strange to think such a thing.
Men and women still entered to kill her, and many ended up dying by her hands. It was nothing to be proud of.
But she was no longer suffering.
Her fists could crush armor, though she discovered something even stranger when she searched for a weapon.
A banner appeared in her hands.
Black.
With sharp blades at both ends, like a ceremonial spear.
From then on, she stopped punching.
Now she impaled.
Even so, she did not fully trust the weapon, so she began collecting belongings from fallen adventurers.
After all, they no longer arrived one at a time.
Now entire groups appeared.
Three.
Five.
Sometimes more.
The door creaked open once again.
Salem had finally reached the cathedral's glass dome.
She had heard rumors in the dark guild: the zone boss was corrupted. It did not attack. It was free experience.
But the moment she entered, she realized those rumors were complete nonsense.
Sera stood there.
In the center of the hall.
Her black banner dripped with blood, yet she herself remained immaculate. Beautiful. Silent.
And dangerously hostile.
The moment Sera moved, Salem felt genuine terror.
—Kommunikation.
The spell painted the world in gray and black.
Sera froze in place.
Salem gasped for air, trying to steady herself. She had used far too much mana on instinct alone.
—What is happening…?
—We are inside Kommunikation. Violence cannot exist here. We can only talk.
Sera slightly parted her lips in surprise.
—Let me out… I'm sorry. I entered your domain by mistake.
It was the first apology she had heard in a very long time.
—Give me everything you have.
Salem went pale.
But she was the one who had activated the spell.
And the rules had to be obeyed.
Day 17
"And then, one day, the dungeons descended from skies shattered by the Entity, becoming trials for heroes."
*Our World.*
That was the title of the book Salem carried inside her backpack. It was something between an encyclopedia and a survival guide; it explained everything from which dungeons were safe for beginners to which ones even veteran adventurers should never enter.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Sera's cathedral stood somewhere between both categories.
"Unpredictable," the book described it.
But it did not speak only of dungeons. It also contained information about items, creatures, and strange phenomena. Yet one particular section captured Sera's attention more than anything else.
**Friendly Entities and How to Befriend Them.**
The chapter described creatures capable of coexisting with adventurers. Some traded goods, others offered shelter, and certain intelligent entities even guided lost travelers through dangerous dungeons.
Sera read every word carefully.
Then she realized something.
She did not need to keep killing.
She only needed to become one of them.
Slowly, she stood and looked around the vast empty dome surrounding her. The cracked stained glass, the broken benches, the dried blood…
No.
She could change this place.
She would turn it into something better.
A safe place.
And she would never kill again.
---
Day 18
Vastor was exhausted.
The undead were a nightmare to deal with, especially without a priest in the party. Even so, Hermes had done an incredible job, though the pale look beneath his hood made it obvious his mana reserves were nearly depleted.
Still, they had finally reached the boss chamber of the cathedral corridors.
If they defeated the BOSS, they could enter the inner library and steal valuable books to sell back in the city.
Vastor pushed the massive door open.
It creaked slowly inward with a heavy groan.
Marcus, Hermes, and Cachi immediately took their positions.
Tank in front.
Mage behind.
Crossbowman in the rear.
They expected something horrifying.
They did not get it.
Instead, standing before them was… a tent.
Huge.
Though calling it a tent felt inaccurate; it looked more like multiple camping tents and scraps of cloth stitched together into a single structure.
—"Shop"…?
Hermes read the sign carved into what looked like an old church bench.
Everyone let out a breath.
Maybe this was a safe zone.
Carefully, they stepped inside.
And then they saw her.
A woman kneeling behind a blanket spread across the floor. Dozens of neatly organized items rested atop it: potions, weapons, fabrics, tools, and small glowing crystals.
—Ooooh, mana elixir!
Hermes excitedly reached for one of the crystals, only for a sharp metallic tip to stop inches from his hand.
Sera's black banner.
—Well then… shall we negotiate?
Marcus pulled Hermes back by the shoulder and stepped forward himself.
The woman simply nodded.
—Three mana elixirs and one vitality potion.
Marcus was enormous; his arms looked capable of crushing watermelons with a single squeeze.
—Fourteen hundred.
The answer came instantly.
A vein bulged on Marcus's forehead.
—That's twice the city price.
—Then buy them in the city.
Her cold response froze the atmosphere.
—Take the money.
Vastor tossed a bag of coins before Marcus could make things worse.
Hermes had already whispered something important to him:
That woman was probably the true boss of the area.
And an optional one at that.
There was no reason to fight.
Sera accepted the bag and smiled faintly.
—Thank you for your purchase, my lords.
Her voice changed completely.
No longer cold or distant, but gentle and courteous.
Everyone swallowed nervously.
The way she slightly lowered her head and elegantly gestured toward the exit made her seem less like a dungeon monster and more like a noblewoman serving honored guests.
Sera no longer remembered who she used to be.
But she did remember one important lesson:
"Smile at customers even if you hate them. People trust you more when they feel important."
---
Day 19
It had worked.
Sera bought and sold goods like a real merchant.
Four different adventuring groups had already visited her shop, though despite how exhausted many of them looked, none stayed long.
They distrusted her.
And honestly, that made sense.
So she decided to improve the business.
Besides, she was beginning to run out of merchandise.
Sera stood up and extended one hand toward the cathedral's enormous door.
—Come to me.
Footsteps echoed through the corridors.
The doors slowly opened, and several black knights emerged from the shadows.
Servants of the dungeon.
Servants of hers.
According to the book, some bosses could summon subordinates. Sera had imagined creatures emerging dramatically from darkness and black smoke…
But no.
They simply opened the doors and walked inside.
—Find useful things for people. Furniture, fabrics, tools… anything.
She pointed toward the tent and the objects spread across the blanket.
The knights silently turned around and departed immediately.
Once, he had been human.
Once, he had been a man.
Someone.
Now he saw only darkness and obeyed violent impulses.
But today his lady had given him an order.
And that alone was enough.
They would search.
All of them would search.
Soon, hundreds of metallic footsteps echoed throughout the cathedral.
Later, adventurers would remember that day by a single name:
**The Black March.**
Because that night, the corridors, the gardens, and even the safe zones near the entrance became drenched in corpses.
---
Day 20
It was incredible.
Sera now had tables.
Chairs.
Lamps.
Ten different tents spread throughout the entire dome.
She even placed several near the exit adventurers used when leaving the zone.
Now she had an inn.
And an item shop.
For the first time since waking inside that cathedral, Sera was happy.
So now there was only one thing left for her to do.
Wait.