I stared at the grid of different stores that stacked on top of each other, creating a U-shape building with different assortment of products to sell, a store that had something for any customer who might come.

The hyper-store building that I would have loved to visit before was now filled with pale-skinned creatures with no eyes and with the entire place mangled enough to believe that it was abandoned for months instead of weeks. After some hypothetical rioters had demolished the place.

Doors were destroyed, windows were smashed, and I could see no furniture from here that was still left intact. The new inhabitants being the most likely culprit.

I sneaked inside the area and threw the device for testing out the creature’s primary source of perception, my sweaty shirt.

I then climbed to a vantage point and observed the smelly shirt. A few minutes passed with me just staring at the shirt lying on the floor and nothing happening.

So, definitely not smell.

I then took out a piece of metal that was laid on the floor and threw it roughly on the same location. The metal rang loudly from the impact as it hit the tiled floor and within 10 seconds, a pack of those blind monsters came running in.

Sound? Huh.

They still didn’t mind the sweaty shirt that lied a few feet away from the impact point, instead just moved their elongated heads around in search of anything.

That might be echolocation or something, kinda problematic, but at least they don’t seem to have any good sense of smell. That would have been a lot worse since I would have been visible to all of them just as I enter their range.

I observed their sharp claws, which seemed to be their only weapon in their featureless body.

They had a pale and almost skinless appearance. Not the normal kind of pale, but the disgusting kind. The kind of pale color you find in a newborn insect.

They also didn’t appear to have a mouth on their face. Their head a smooth surface with no mouth, ears, eyes, or any discernable features in their entire body except for three gill-like tears on the side of their head and the sharp claws that they brandished on their 4 legs.

They truly made for a horrifying creature and had me second guess going through this just because of their appearance, but it was either them or the armored fleas which I had no confidence against or the sand hobos which were hundreds of flattened insect-like creatures that lurked under the sand and devoured anything that walked on top of it.

Not really given an option here.

But if I don’t be a scaredy-cat and could man up against them, this matchup might actually be to my advantage.

They seemed to primarily rely on their hearing, which I could erase mostly using vitality while walking. And the whole place was littered with closed spaces with stores and rooms, which might seem like a disadvantage at first but was actually better than open areas since I was against multiple opponents.

And most importantly. I looked at the knife I was holding. I could use this more effectively in closed spaces like this since it was a short but a remarkably powerful weapon. Short-range scuffles would be theoretically the area it would shine the most.

I placed the larger mountain bag that I had no choice to take since I abandoned the better one, on the floor. I couldn’t properly run or fight with it on me, but it also had my food and supplies, so I needed to keep it safe.

I took 6 additional bullets in my pocket and placed a few canned foods in my protective vest. With everything ready, I went and sneaked inside the building using a broken window.

I kept using vitality in a muted and subdued state, making it correct my steps and footing while keeping my body ready to explode into action with the knife in my right hand and my other hand hovering above my left side over the holster.

I had to concentrate on my aura to not flare too much so as to keep it in this state, but I wager it was worth it from the fact that I would have more juice in the bag and that it would also keep my noise to a minimum as I walked, something which was vital in this situation.

What I was doing right now also gave me another idea, but I kept it in the back of my mind for now and focused on the surrounding.

If it looked bad on the outside, it was much worse on the inside. Everything on the inside seemed to be thrashed with the furniture and desk and some random items splayed out all across the floor. The paint in the wall and the wall itself seems to be enveloped in cracks and signs which can only come with the long passage of time.

Which was definitely weird, but as I was appreciating the new interior design, a faceless creature walked in on the other side of the hallway. I paused in shock and gripped my knife.

But it walked towards my direction calmly and slowly as if it was completely oblivious of my presence, that was until it got within a few feet. It instantly shot towards me, seemingly out of nowhere, and almost clawed my face when it got close.

My back bent as I barely dodged the sharp claws to my face and my hand blurred along with the knife as it cleanly cut the chest of the creature. It tried to back off, but the knife had cut through its muscles along with its ribcage cleanly, making its head plump down into the ground without proper support.

I slashed downward, cleanly cutting through its head and ending the fight. Preventing any unnecessary injuries when it would have struggled for its life.

“Boy, was that scary!” I shouted to myself. Almost caught me off guard when it jumped out of nowhere. I’m guessing it heard my heartbeats or something when it got closer.

I took a breath to calm myself down and observed the dead monster. The last cut had cleanly cut the head in two, the cross-section of its bones and muscles being cleanly seen from the cut like a laboratory done dissection. I stared at the knife in hand and couldn’t help but be impressed again. This was indeed really broken.

I jumped over the body and walked further down the narrow hallway to see a mix of chairs and desks laid down in an effort to block the path. I paused to speculate on how it came to be.

But concluded that any chance of survivors still here, after all this time was pretty low. I observed the desks, which seemed to be still pretty sturdy, and decided to take my chance and climb over them. The desk held pretty well right until I jumped off, where it tumbled down along with the chairs stacked on it.

I inwardly cringed from the noise that echoed and looked out towards the hallway, sure enough to find a few faceless running towards me, but all I was left was puzzled as I saw an empty hallway.

Huh? I waited with bated breath for a few seconds, then minutes, finally concluding that nothing was coming.

Although confused I carried on and trudged towards the corner of the hallway and saw a narrow path that had stores on either side.

This is where it gets tricky. I walked slowly as I primed my body to react to anything that might jump out from either side of the broken windows. Though I didn’t actually think that there will be any random creature staying inside the room, waiting for me, but it was always good to be cautiou- a claw busted out of the broken window as a faceless lunged at me.

I moved my knife towards it in shock but saw another one coming from my other side in my peripheral vision. I ducked under the claws that came for my head from both sides and raised my hands as I slashed one of the hands of my two assailants.

I felt a wind or something from behind me and jumped forward from my awkward crouching position and did an instant 180 with my hands as a fulcrum to see three faceless creatures diving towards me, with their claws at the front.

Seriously? An ambush?

The confusion of the sudden event made me react a second too late, as one of the creatures outstretched hand had already reached me. I raised the kitchen knife to slash it, but it cleverly grabbed my hands with its sharp claws.

I grabbed the revolver with my other hand and shot the face of the one that grabbed me, bracing for the slashes that were about to come from the other two. The bullet fired directly into its head but it had a greater secondary effect as not only the one that I fired it on but all three of the faceless creatures recoiled their heads back as if they got hammered with a bat.

I capitalized on that moment and pulled my hands back from the claws as it drew 3 deep lines on my hand and cut the head of the one that grabbed me, killing it instantly.

Reversing the swing, I slashed my knife vertically towards the other one’s head, but it barely managed to move back, preventing an instant death. But the knife had successfully split its face by half, surely taking it out of the fight.

The last one which had the most time to recover had its claws just above my face, too close for me to dodge and too late for me to intercept but I fired the gun which was pointed downwards, not bothering to aim as the creature recoiled again from the noise, but not as strongly as the first time.

But plenty enough as I slashed its neck, cutting it partially away from its body.

I finally took a breath as I looked at the last one that was squirming on the floor with its face cut in half. I put it to rest with a downward slash as the energy flowed inside of me.

“Almost” I spoke out loud in between my breath. It was so close that I could taste it, I could barely contain myself from the instinctual anticipation of what was about to come.

But the euphoric sensation was cut close from a noise behind me. I turned around to see a faceless creature watching me. It turned around instantly when I saw it and ran away.

My heart dropped as I ran behind it. It was going to call for its pack, then the whole thing would have to be called off.

I was so close now. I couldn’t wait for a few more days. I burned my aura as I activated vitality, my speed sending me explosively towards it.

It turned around the corner and I followed closely behind it, not letting it out of my sight. With my vitality, I was quickly catching up to it, but as I rushed behind it, I felt my hands and legs turn cold as I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that I was getting played.

But the creature was just in front of me and in arm’s reach. I slashed my knife on its hind legs, which made it crash down on the ground roughly. But instead of retaliating while on the floor since it could not escape anymore, it desperately dragged itself over the floor towards a doorway.

I thrust the knife to its head, ending its life. The energy flowed through me, a little less than the last three but still something.

I stared at the dead creature and then at the entrance, which it tried to crawl towards, my curiosity urging me to take a peek. I looked back and saw that the coast was clear, confirming that nothing was behind me, but still couldn’t shake off this weird feeling.

The first three that attacked me showed a surprising level of coordination and intelligence that made me unsure of going through with this whole thing.

I peeked over the entrance to see an open field, populated by shrubs, trees, and fading pathways. It was the open part in the middle of the U-shaped building. I saw multiple entrances back towards the building that I could access from this open field, something which was extremely tempting. The coast also seemed clear.

Deciding that such an area was too good to pass and that I could escape from the multiple entrances if anything does come, spurred me to walk over to the field.

My eyes scanned the field, looking at anything interesting or dangerous when it stopped on a particular wall. There was a big wide hole drilled into the wall.

I couldn’t see anything beyond it as it appeared as pitch black as it could be. But the hole appeared to be straight out of something from a forest, with its boundaries adorned with vines and rocks, which appeared stark contrast to the wall it was on.

I picked up a rock and prepared to throw while my body was half committed to run. The rock flew through the hall and disappointingly or fortunately, no hordes or a giant faceless creature ran out of it.

But it couldn’t be anything but a normal hole. It would be best to stay clear of it, I thought as I walked towards the opposite entrance, when a faceless emerged out of the entrance.

In alarm, I raised my knife in reaction to the creature's appearance, but it ambled towards me as if it didn’t know I was here or as if I was of no concern to it.

A few seconds later, the reason for that was known or rather shown to me as more and more of the faceless creatures walked out from the different entrances, even from the one that I came from, and was sure there was nothing behind.

The dozens of creatures slowly and leisurely surrounded me as if they already had me in check, which they definitely did. I brandished my knife in defense as my heart pounded in my chest. Preparing for the horde that was about to rush in.

But instead of ending me right then and there, they only kept getting closer while cornering me, forcing me to move backward with the occasional swipes and growls, driving me towards the giant hole that was behind me.

Urging me to run towards the only path that was available to me.

They couldn’t be more obvious.

I looked back to the pitch-black hole and considered it for a moment, but vehemently refused the option.

I gripped the knife in my hand firmly with anger as I took out the gun, preparing to give everything I’ve got. Either I was going to die or I was going to break out of this entrapment.

I was not going to play right into their hands, just like they wanted me to. With a burning conviction and a scream, I charged at the horde. Aiming at the entrance behind the thinnest line of creatures.

3 minutes later, I was left bloodied and on the ground, painted with lacerations and tears all over my body, barely keeping my conscious as one of the many faceless creature looked above me with their eyeless face.

Its mouth opened to reveal rows of teeth as it enveloped my face gently, the sharp teeth only cutting my skin and not any deeper.

My body was lifted with my head in its mouth and was dragged over to the hole. I closed my eyes as I felt the motion of being thrown and, in the next instant, my body slammed into a rocky surface.

My eyes opened partially to see the hole that was supposed to be in front of me, magically not present. Instead, I was greeted with a message.

YOU HAVE ENTERED ONE OF THE 71 DUNGEONS IN THE AREA #9084

THE DUNGEON WILL ONLY BE RELEASED BY MEETING ONE OF THE CRITERIA:

1: AFTER THE PASSAGE OF 345 DAYS (345/365)

2: AFTER 200 INITIATORS HAVE FAILED TO CLEAR THE DUNGEON (106/200)

3: USING THE DUNGEON ARTIFACT AS THE KEY

4: BY CLEARING THE DUNGEON