#049 – This feels like a calm before the storm

#049 – This feels like a calm before the storm

Ah yes, a dark, unnaturally silent locker probably full of monsters waiting just outside of my vision. How nostalgic.

Everytime I’d entered one of these, it had ended in a horrible experience and I was under no illusions that this time would be any different.

The eerie silence only broken by my own breaths and my feet carefully tapping on the metal floor, the all-consuming darkness all around me just barely lit up by the small flame in my palm created by Flameguard, the uncertainty of whether this place would decide to trap me inside with its space-warping nonsense...

Why was I doing this to myself? Why hadn’t I just left this dungeon be and tried to maybe find civilization instead?

Right, because I was a completionist and leaving this dungeon unfinished, especially right before the final boss, would nag at me forever.

“Okay, chat... So far so good...” I whispered, my voice echoing in the creepy space like the cry of a ghost.

KaiEbikoOfficial: I don’t trust this

GeorgeDoshington: BOO!

Irid123: I wonder what the trick is this time

I resisted my urge to roll my eyes at George and kept a keen eye on my surroundings, even if I could barely see anything.

I briefly glanced back to confirm that, yes, the entrance was still there, and it was getting further away from me. The column of light that was supposedly the exit was also still there and was getting closer as I walked toward it.

I didn’t trust any of this. It seemed way too simple.

GonguuH: try checking the map

GonguuH: I feel like this is a trap

I hummed in agreement and slowly pulled out the map before shining some light on it with my fire.

I narrowed my eyes on it when I saw that it was nearly completely empty save for three arrows. A blue arrow that seemed to be the entrance behind me, a red arrow that had to be the supposed exit in front of me, and then a green arrow in between those two curling onto itself in an anti-clockwise circle.

I slowly blinked before lifting my eyes up at the column of light in front of me.

“...It is a trap, chat.” I sniffed. “I knew it.”

Good thing I’d looked at the map. I still didn’t know what the red arrows meant, but better safe than sorry.

Even though it felt a bit silly, I did as my map commanded and followed the green arrow. That was to say, I began walking in a small circle while continuing to stare at the map.

Unlike the previous instances, the arrows on the map also began moving around as I walked, while the red dot stayed in the middle, like it was some kind of minimap in a video game. As I walked, the green arrow in the middle slowly uncurled and by the time it straightened out completely, I ran into another column of light – this one much smaller for some reason – that seemed to lead outside.

“...Huh. That was... easy?” I carefully said, still feeling suspicious.

JamieWasTaken3: still feels sus

“It really does, doesn’t it?”

Despite my trepidation, I happily walked through and out of the dark locker. As soon as my eyes readjusted to the light, I found myself in a room with some tables and chairs as well as several doors in all directions.

I blinked as I looked back at where I’d come from and spotted a row of completely normal-sized lockers lining the wall behind me. One of them was open and led back into the darkness.

“...And this is the first floor, isn’t it? It’s like I’m going back through the entire dungeon or something.” I shook my head before holding the map up again. “Well, where to now?”

As expected, a blue arrow on the map pointed back into the locker, one of the doors on my left had a green arrow, and the rest were all red arrows.

I was beginning to get anxious. Things were too simple. This dungeon was never simple. It had to be preparing to screw me over somehow. Were the green arrows really leading to the final boss or was it something else?

Or maybe it was all reverse psychology and if I deviated from the simple green arrow path now, I would regret it.

Stupid dungeon had conditioned me to be hyper paranoid about everything, ugh.

“Well, let’s keep going. If the pattern holds, then... this should be the last area before... Before I reach whatever it is that I’m going toward.” I pursed my lips.

GeorgeDoshington: final boss time!

Jeofffff: check your ammo and ether levels and stuff

Jeofffff: just in case

I hummed.

“Good idea, Jeoff. I don’t wanna get caught off guard now.”

A few bites of the life ooze, a quick check on the bracelet’s remaining juice – 29% – and with my naginata drawn in my hand, I finally set off again.

I was ready for whatever the dungeon decided to throw at me now. The only thing I lacked was the Craftsman skill to properly utilize the lightning from my naginata, but I should be fine even without it. I still had my Fire Breath as well as my new gun for long-range options, and electrifying the blade wasn’t as hard as shooting lightning out of it. I could manage.

I opened the door and was greeted with a curving hallway. I didn’t hesitate before entering it while keeping my guard up.

I walked through in silence, eyes darting all over the walls in anticipation, but still nothing happened.

I reached the end of the hallway and was greeted by several windows I could climb through. If I looked at them all individually, they all seemed to lead to the very start of the dungeon. But if I looked at my map, I saw that one of the windows had a green arrow, while the rest had red ones.

“Through here, I guess...” I mumbled as I approached the correct window and climbed through it.

I idly noted that it was much easier now than it had been when I’d first tried to climb through windows like these. I had probably grown a fair bit because of the blessing.

Once on the other side, I found myself in a corridor filled with windows reminiscent of the dungeon’s entrance. Except this corridor wasn’t straight; it seemed to curve away and I couldn’t see what lay on either end of it.

GeorgeDoshington: finally found another person

JamieWasTaken3: double nana

KaiEbikoOfficial: wow that’s weird

Jeofffff: summon john

I hummed and summoned John as Jeoff suggested. The moment I did though, I paused and slowly looked toward a specific spot next to my doppelganger. Just like how I felt John’s position, I could feel... another John’s position.

“...Chat. There are two Johns.”

I made John float over me and to my other side all while his camera stayed on me.

I could feel the doppelganger’s John do the exact same thing.

“This is so, so, weird,” I murmured. “The dungeon duplicated me.”

GeorgeDoshington: evil clone final boss?!

“I really hope not, George. I don’t wanna fight a dark version of myself. That sounds really dumb and cliche,” I murmured.

How would I even defeat such a boss without defeating myself as well in the process? If this room was perfectly mirrored, I would take any and all damage she would take. The only possible result would be a stalemate or a draw.

Regardless, I decided to do a little test.

I breathed in the tiniest amount and then spat a small Flame Bullet in my doppelganger’s direction.

She did exactly the same thing in perfect sync with me and I expected the fireballs to collide and cancel each other out, but instead, they somehow passed through each other and now there was a fireball headed straight at me.

I squeaked and jumped out of the way as it hit the ground. My doppelganger did the same thing.

Yeah, this wasn’t going to work.

Ugh, why was the final boss suddenly a puzzle? That didn’t feel like this dungeon at all.

Well, at least I had all the time in the world to try and figure it out. No random monsters chasing me this time.

So with that in mind, I put the map back into my backpack, finally left the door behind me, and began walking alongside the pool’s edge while keeping an eye on my reflection up above.

How would one even go about defeating an enemy who was the perfect mirror of yourself? If this was a video game, there would have to be some kind of loophole or an exploit. Some minor inconsistency in how it mirrored your movement, or even an item that would resurrect you on death, but wouldn’t do the same for the doppelganger.

Not that I wanted to die to beat the boss, but–

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by the pool’s surface rippling and sending out a large splash as something emerged from it. Two somethings, one from each of the pools, actually.

I startled and gripped the naginata in both hands as I stared at the things with wide eyes.

As the water slid off of them – some of it fell down, some of it up – and revealed what the two things were, I couldn’t help but gape.

It was a pair of giant sharks. With large reptilian wings instead of side fins. And not just that. There also seemed to be some kind of devices strapped to their backs with what looked like a sci-fi cannon. One of them was facing me and the other was facing my doppelganger.

They opened their massive jaws filled with razor-sharp teeth and let out a ground-shaking roar in concert; I couldn’t help but stiffen at the horrible echoey doublesound.

Oh.

I belatedly realized that I’d had it all wrong.

My doppelganger wasn’t the boss. It was just a consequence of what this place was. The actual boss just didn’t appear until you walked further into the room.

After the shark facing me closed its mouth again, the cannon thing on its back pointed at me and began glowing while letting out very sci-fi energy charging sounds. Its twin likewise looked at my doppelganger and began charging its own cannon in unison.

My eyes widened and I moved on instinct as I jumped to the side just as it fired out a massive fucking laser beam that ripped through the space where I’d stood just a moment ago.

“What the f–”

I scrambled to stand up only to find the shark already swooping down at me like an eagle.

I breathed out and spat out a river of flames in his direction even as I jumped to the side to dodge its body barreling toward me.

The flaming shark smashed into the ground next to me, its wings nearly clipping me, and immediately took off again.

I grit my teeth and got ready to tussle.

But then a wave of fire slammed into me from where I’d shot it and I screamed in surprise before activating Flameguard for fire resistance and let it wash over me for the most part.

I looked at where the wave of fire had come from and–

Oh.

My doppelganger was in that direction.

I’d shot myself with fire.

That was the gimmick with this boss.

Now I understood.