The next while we run through more vine-covered cave tunnels, though this time without poison gas. Instead of traps, parts of the wall are 'missing', in their stead is just a glitchy, green-black mass. If that isn't a bad sign I don't know what is.

The tunnels are devoid of monsters or traps. The only obstacles are the glitched spots.

Eventually, we reach another boss room.

Is the wolf girl Dan mentioned trapped in here or what is going on? I don't like this one bit.

The dwarf asks me, "Same deal as before, Jared?"

I nod, "Yeah, let's go with that. Everyone ready?"

After affirmations, Kael opens the door and we see a werewolf bearing an uncanny resemblance to Marca holding a wolf cub in its arms.

Aside from a few glitched spots on the floor, the room is devoid of any other notable features.

Now, what are we up against?

Name M̸̦͘a̸͈͑r̶̻͊c̶̞̏â̵̲ Status none Age 16 Classes Ranger ??, Knight ??, Arcane Archer ??. Forager ??, Battle Expert ??

Werewolf ??, High Lycanthrope ?? Race Grey Dwarf ??, Monster ?? Extra Puzzle Boss ?? HP ??/?? MP ??/?? SP ??/?? STR ?? DEX ?? VIT ?? MAG ?? FTH ?? WIL ?? CHA ?? Equipment ?? Skills ?? Weakness ??

She kinda looks like the real Marca and has some of her classes, what a sick joke.

"Puzzle boss? Hadn't one of those in a while."

I check my menu, specifically the familiar tab, but the real Marca is still listed there. So this can't be her.

And the cub?

Wolf Cub, sick

Not a combatant.

I ask, "Anyone good with dogs?", but no one says yes.

"Yeah, me neither. Has anyone got a better idea? I guess we only need to cure the cub without angering the mother."

Ephran interrupts me, "Are you just glancing over the fact that it looks like one of our teammates?"

"Yes, I am. If that thing really should be her then I have no clue what we can do about it. But then the dungeons have already played some sick jokes on us, some psychological warfare like that doesn't seem too far-fetched. I was already forced to fight a whole village of people look-alikes, this is probably the same."

His voice trembles, "If you, if you say so..."

"Trust me, I don't like the implications either... Anyway, I have one last First Aid Kit left, no one here can use any healing skills and there's nothing in the room in the room that looks remotely useful. So the plan of action is pretty straightforward. You three distract the mother, I try to apply the medkit on the cub. Objections?"

Ren has some, "If she should really be your companion, couldn't you try to talk to her?"

"You're free to try. I wasn't exactly on good speaking terms with her."

Still not sure if it is better or worse that Geoffrey isn't here. He'd probably be devastated just from the mere possibility. But if it really her he could... ah forget it, this is reality, not a fairytale.

Ephran interjects, "I'll give it a shot."

"Good, then get going."

I wait a moment until the other three have taken lead.

As discussed, Ephran tries to talk with her but as expected she doesn't react.

While the three distract the werewolf mother, I sneak up on the cub and take out the medkit.

Smack

You've taken 1 damage from M̸̦͘a̸͈͑r̶̻͊c̶̞̏â̵̲.

The damn furry has smashed the medkit out of my hand and it shattered on the floor, making it unusable.

Why does everything always have to be so fast!?

Great, what now? That was the only one we had.

While I think, the other three draw her attention again and a fight breaks out.

The boss's HP doesn't change but she also only inflicts 1 damage with each hit, so thanks to regeneration, this fight will never end.

Maybe because it is a puzzle room I can use [Cure Magic]? Worth a try.

I try to cast the forbidden spell and...

ERROR: desired skill cannot be used at this time!

Fuck you, system!! Just, fuck you!

...

While pondering my options, I almost step on a glitch tile. That was close! Who knows what those would do...

Wait, can't I try that? I don't see any other options.

I prepare a lightning spell to stun her.

"Try to hold her in place!"

"Yessir!", someone agrees.

When the spell is ready, I shoot her with it.

Your Lightning Blast inflicted 1 damage and a status effect.

Electric sparks fly from her, she can barely move for now. The stun effect was successful.

Good, I'm glad it succeeded but also frustrated because my [Beast Killer] passive is once again utterly useless...

But... there're too many glitch spots around her, having someone push her into them is too dangerous, especially when we don't know what that will do. So... I have one alternative, one I didn't want to use but do we have a choice?

Now... please, don't let it be a mistake.

I know I promised not to use [G̵̫̈́l̸̪͠i̷̺̾t̸̗͑c̷͓͊h̸̨͒ Magic] but I see no alternative. Whatever the consequences are can't be worse than being imprisoned here for all eternity.

I raise my hand to start charging the spell but it fires off instantly. This spell just skips the usual charge-up phase of spellcasting.

A beam of the green-black glitch mass shoots forth from my hand towards my intended target - and then passes right through the werewolf without affecting her at all.

Shit.

The glitch shot travels further until it finally hits the wall and leaves another glitch spot behind.

Before I can process what is going on, the vision gets flooded with system messages.

You defeated N̷̜͛U̷͈͒L̷̲̎L̴͚͐.

O̴b̶t̸a̷i̷n̵e̴d̷

Gain 2 XP.

Relieved -̵̳̓2̴̻̈́ ̵͕͝S̶͖̆ṫ̴̫r̸̛̖e̸̼͆s̵̨̈s̶̪̿

What the?

The glitch spot I created starts expanding, eating away at the wall and the... air? Do my eyes deceive me, or does it grow in literally all directions?

Hundreds of garbled system messages occupy my sight, leaving me blind to what happens in the room. Normally, they stick to the side so I can read them at my leisure but this time they're overlapping with everything and each other.

Dear, {insert_name_here},

Y08 fou4d {NULL}!

R̶̗̈́a̷͙͗n̷̺̊k̴̦̾ů̵͓ ̶̖̎A̶̬͆h̷̟́ṕ̷̮!

y0ur delIvery haz aRriνd!

bt y-u R stIlL hπnGri

K̴̜͐i̵̬̓r̶̻̓ō̷̟v̸̨̕...

Y0u hav3 b0nded a̵̗̓ ̸̣̈f̵̟̿ő̷̢r̵͓̈́g̵̘͊ẹ̷̈ thaT ca||not be bRoken!

...ṙ̴͕e̵͚͝p̴̺͝o̷̬̔r̷̲̋t̶̫͝i̶̻͊ṋ̸̈́g̶̤͝!

bμT π05odY c4mξ.

...

G̴̩̔o̸̫͝o̵͂͜d̸͈̄n̶̘͂i̶̝̅ĝ̶̩ḧ̸̞t̵̲̿,̶̻̀ ̶̫͑e̸̳͝v̸̗͋é̶̪r̴̡͊y̷̗͐b̶̖̈õ̷̤d̶̲̀y̷̟̾!̷̥́

I guess the system is about to collapse as well, just like my unlife.

After finally removing all messages, I find myself back at the dungeon entrance. Every one of my group is here, except for Marca. Wait, no, Kael and Ren are not present either.

The others are looking around, just as confused as I am.

Iris lies unconscious on the ground, covered in spiderwebs. What happened to her? She'll have to answer that once she wakes up, don't want to stick around here longer than needed and get dragged into another death trap.

What is going on now, why are we suddenly here? Did the glitch trigger a win condition somehow?

After quickly looking around, I see that the exit is present, we can finally leave! [Trap Lore] doesn't react to it, so I'm willing to take my chances.

"Skip the reunion party, we're leaving right this instant! Geoffrey, please carry Iris, she's unconscious. Then we-"

Huh, Lucia is also out cold? No wait, there are two of her. One blond version and a regular black-haired one. I hope the story behind that is worth hearing...

Name Eclaire Age N/A Classes Grave Cleric 8 Race Sunbound (human) 8, Imp 8 Extra Spirit 8 Divine Holy Maiden 8 HP 413/1422 MP 1355/1428 SP 434/1274 STR 280+8 DEX 204 VIT 280 MAG 232 FTH 368 WIL 304 CHA 256 Skills Mace Training 8

Cure Magic 8 (Rank 2), Fire Magic 8 (Rank 1), Spook 8

Expel Undead 8, Wings 8

Hard Worker 8, Stamina Boost 8

Summoned Spirit 8 Weakness Dark, Ice

Questions for later, many of them.

"Lucia, grab your miscolored clone, you can tell me later what happened. We're going right now! I don't want a sequel to this horror story. Get moving!"

Everyone does as ordered and leaves in a hurry, though I... fall to the ground. Strength has left my legs.

What? Why can't move? Did I catch a bad status somewhere?

Status m̷͙͒ă̵̟l̵͖̒f̵̟́u̸̜͝n̵̍ͅc̴̛̤t̵̬̐ḯ̷̟o̴̗͌n̶̛̳ HP 56/?? MP -2371/?? SP -314/??

Shit, what the hell happened there...

Fuck this place, I just want to get out for now. Remaining here won't cure me either.

I try to force myself up and slowly make progress.

Before I'm even halfway up, I can hear Dan speaking to me again, please no...

He asks me, "Hey!? Where's everyone gone to? The game isn't over yet!"

I try to answer but even speaking has become hard. The voice I can let out sounds hoarse, "Sorry, but... something came up, we gotta... leave... early."

He answers, "Huh? Í̵̫s̴͔̍ ̸̖͠t̴̞̕h̶̺̑ȧ̶̹t̸̬͐ ̶̨͊s̴̠̽ọ̶̿?̵̳̚"

What's happened to his voice?

"Ḥ̶̉e̵͇̿y̶̯̚,̴́͜ ̸̮̚w̶͈͊h̸̘̉à̴͕t̴̡̐'̸͇̀s̴̠͒ ̷̞͘h̷̥̀a̶̧̔p̴̤͠ṕ̸͇e̴̹̓n̸͕̅i̶̞̋n̴̰̿g̷̭̋ ̸̩̈́t̶̟̒ǒ̸̘ ̶̠̀m̵̪͋e̴̩̊?̸̥̔!̵͈̐"

While the noise tortures my ears, I finally am standing up again but then everything is suddenly covered in a glitch zone. I was too slow...

Was that the zone I created? Did it really grow that fast?

But... it hasn't even been a minute since it came into existence and we must be at least hundreds of kilometers away from its origin. This is a scary expansion rate...

I'm done for. I could barely move before, now I have even less strength to escape from this...

The cold nothingness envelopes me and I can only close my eyes in resignation. There's nothing I can do anymore.

Unless...

Hey, system. Can I please get some power of friendship bullshit to get me out of here?

Ë̴̥́͜R̵͕̪͗Ȑ̴͇͚̌Ŏ̸̳̞̍Ř̴̻̞͘:̴̊͜͝ ̶̝̂̕͜t̴̛̞h̸̘̀͘i̵͍̒͊s̸̢̳̑ ̴͚̠̑̇f̴̥̙̔͒ė̷̛̥a̸̯̎t̶̹̝̒u̵͓̝̾̂ṙ̴̥̓e̶͎̗̅̆ ̸̙̦̕͠ď̵̻̙̆o̴͍̎̔é̶͇̥̎s̴̞͙̀̾ ̴͈̯͑n̷̯͊ó̷̟͙ẗ̸͉̈́ ̴̝̫́è̷̬x̸̧̅ĩ̵͇̮ş̵̲̏ṱ̸̢̓͐.̵̡̈́

Yeah, thought as much. You never were on my side, were you?

...

Whoever said that your life flashes before your eyes when you die was a big, fat liar. I only saw one repressed memory. And not a happy one. Far from it.

It is a memory from when I was already a dead soul like I was when Eva released me from that capsule. I'm strapped to a table by the blueberry group called devas. One of them points to a clock that goes counterclockwise, probably a timer. Another one with the nametag "ʃıǝɥʃʃ∀ ˙ɹ◖" checks his watch. No idea what that translates to, probably the native deva language and it translates to Doctor Evil-Murder-Death or something. He has the necessary level of baldness at least.

They play around with three syringes containing a liquid that looks suspiciously like the soup I'm trapped in right now, shake their heads in frustration and then inject me with the stuff.

One after the other. All three of them.

I remember a cold burning accompanying it. Disgusting.

I want to vomit just from recalling that feeling...

...

No, I recall more than that. Or perhaps less.

Every single of 'my' memories of my life 'before'... wasn't mine to begin with...

In fact, I... never was...