Chapter 6: Safe and Sound Isn’t Always as Safe as It Sounds

Chapter 6:
Safe and Sound Isn’t Always as Safe as It Sounds

 

FOOLISHLY, I thought the dead end would let me through after that, but it was still sealed shut.

The wall that the hag had hidden behind was shut tight again, but the sign was still there. I just had to make sure to press the right button this time.

Look up. If you choose correctly, the path before you shall open. If you choose incorrectly, great hardship shall befall you. To light the way: strawberry, lobster shell, rose mallow.

A fruit, a fish, and a flower…they didn’t have much in common other than color, and I had recently established that this answer was incorrect, to say the least. I looked again to see if anything else stood out. Maybe it had something to do with the letters?

(S)trawberry, (L)obster shell, (R)ose mallow.

SLR? That didn’t mean much of anything.

“Wait, lemme guess…”

If it wasn’t the first letters, perhaps it was the last ones—yes!

Strawberr(Y), lobster sh(ell), rose mall(ow)—yellow! I guess the color of the three items was just a red herring, pun intended. The letters themselves were the hint. Of course, there was a nonzero chance that I could be wrong again. I steeled myself and fired a stone bullet at the yellow button.

The wall opened with an ominous rumble, but this time the way was clear! I took care as I passed through, just in case.

I inched down the hall, on guard for any more monsters, when I came to a three-way fork in the corridor just ahead. The thing that really caught my attention was the trio of young people arguing there. I stopped and listened carefully. They seemed to be fighting about which path to take.

It was all very strange, so I tried to find out more with Discerning Eye. I snuck closer to read their information, but there was…nothing? A similar thing had happened with Tigerson, but I was surprised that there were people I couldn’t read. Perhaps the Great Sage would have some answers.

<People who possess the skill Conceal cannot be read by Discerning Eye or magic-imbued items with a Discerning ability.>

Just as I suspected. My only real option was to ask. To be safe, I stayed far enough back to give me some time to react if they turned hostile.

“Um, hello?”

“Oh, a dungeon seeker!”

“Hey, you should listen to me.”

“Excuse you, he should listen to me.”

“Hold on, please keep your distance,” I said firmly.

They looked a little confused, but at least they did as I asked. Were they trying to get me to drop my guard?

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We’re an adventuring party, but we don’t know which of these three paths to take,” a handsome young man answered.

“But this is a hidden dungeon, isn’t it?” I asked. “How did you figure out the password?”

They froze. Two of them—a girl, and a man with a thick beard—started laughing.

“Oh, that? We forgot. Ha ha ha ha!”

“Yeah, see, we don’t have such good memories.”

“O-oh…”

“More importantly, kid, we’re splitting up.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean we’re taking separate paths. We can’t agree which one to choose.”

Apparently, they were each going to take the one they thought was right. But that didn’t sound right. They were a party, so why would they split up? And they were probably lying about the password, too. I bet they never knew it in the first place. Were they really people at all? There was always the chance they were monsters.

The bearded one stared at me. It was like he could read my mind.

“We’re human, don’t worry. But since you’re here, you should come with me. Name’s Huck, and I always prefer to take the easy road in life. I suppose you need a bit of patience to get anywhere, so it can take a long time, but that’s just how I am!”

“I’m Auck,” said the handsome one. “I love danger. It’s hard work, and one screw up and you’re dead! But it’s the quickest route every time!”

“And I’m Uuck,” said the woman. “I have an itch for treasure. I don’t care about getting anywhere, I just want the loot!”

Huck, Auck, Uuck? What kind of names were those?

After their strange introductions, they all stepped down different paths and held out their hands.

“Come on, kid. Let’s take the safe route.”

“Take the exciting path with me!”

“Hey, let’s go treasure hunting!”

This was another puzzle, right? Maybe each of these people was like a “button.” Sadly, this time I didn’t have a hint to guide me. The right answer was probably hidden in their words.

Huck was the safe option, but his path would require patience. Auck was riskier route, but also faster. Finally, Uuck wanted treasure more than the goal. I guessed the “goal” in this case was the stairs down to the ninth floor.

“So, I take it one of you is the right choice, huh?”

“Me! It’s me!”

“Obviously I am!”

“I’m the best choice!”

Right, stupid question. This would be between me and my intuition. I wanted to prioritize my safety, so I could rule out Auck right away. It was a straight choice between the safe route and the treasure. If I went with Uuck, I might find something nice, but I also might never find the stairs. After lengthy deliberation, I settled on Huck.

“I look forward to working with you, Huck.”

“Ha ha ha,” Huck laughed. “Thanks for choosing me.”

“So, I just wanna make sure we’re looking for the stairs, right?”

“That we are. Let’s get going, buddy.”

“After you.”

I pretended to drop my guard, but took care to stay one step behind. After all, there was a good chance he could still turn out to be a dangerous monster.

The two of us proceeded carefully, but the halls all looked just the same as before, and no monsters appeared. I was thankful for that, but an hour later I was starting to get tired. Looking at the same halls, stretching on and on forever, was doing nothing for my concentration.

“Huck, don’t you think we’ve been walking for too long?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, I do. We’ve been going forever, and there’s no end in sight.”

“You’re going to throw in the towel after a mere two hours? You really lack patience.”

I was starting to worry I’d made the wrong call.

Three hours later, I tried again.

“Huck! This is really taking too long. Where are those stairs?”

“Kid, would you stop with your whining? We’re safe, aren’t we? It’ll be another five or six hours yet.”

“Ugh…”

It was like being in hell. We walked through hall after hall and all of them were exactly the same. Worse, Huck didn’t seem to have any sort of conversation function. Every time I tried to talk, he just said “yeah” and kept going.

“You can go back if you want—if you can find your way,” Huck said with a mean-spirited smile. “But I’m not stopping. I don’t care how unhappy you are.”

We would probably find the stairs eventually, but it could be five days. Or fifty. There was a limit to how “risk free” I was prepared to be.

“Come on,” said Huck. “Give up and follow me.”

“I draw the line at disrespect.”

“So you’re gonna go all the way back? How you gonna do that, idiot?” Huck asked as he jerked his chin at me.

Yeah, well, enough time had passed since I last used the Dungeon Elevator. I opened a hole in the floor.

“The hell is that…?”

Huck looked perplexed. I returned his earlier chin jerk gesture.

“Oh, you mean this? It’s just a little skill that lets me go back instantly. Byeeee!”

I shot him my smuggest grin and jumped into the hole. The scenery shifted abruptly and I sucked down a breath of forest air. I could have gone back to the first floor, but the seventh meant that I could get back down easily enough. I wanted to have another go at choosing. And besides, Dory was here. Maybe she could give me some comfort first.