SSS Dungeon Awakening

Mike felt the heat of the lava.

It was flowing everywhere—liquid lava.

They were standing on solid rock.

Mike lifted Tyla and carried her on his back, in his arms.

He started running.

Sweat was dripping down his face.

It was so hot. Mike's destination: the giant volcano.

The boss must be there.

But Mike stopped for a moment—

liquid lava shot up from the ground in front of him,

dripping and hissing as it hit the rock.

Mike kept moving.

He jumped over streams of lava or ran carefully around them.

He looked exhausted.

Mike said:

"So… You don't need to eat or drink,

but you do need to sleep?

Damn, I'm so tired.

But I can't sleep here.

I'd be nothing but ashes in two minutes.

And Tyla…?"

No.

He couldn't allow himself to sleep.

Mike's expression was serious—

but tired.

Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the ground.

He began to run even faster.

Suddenly, he heard something from under a rock.

"Help… please—"

He stopped and shouted:

"Yeah?!"

The voice repeated:

"Heeelp!"

Mike yelled back:

"Wh-where are you?!"

"H-here… under the rock!"

Mike saw a collapsed cave entrance.

He shouted:

"How am I supposed to get you out of there?!"

"I-I don't know! But the lava… it's getting closer from inside!!"

The voice belonged to a girl.

She sounded young.

Mike laid Tyla down and looked around.

Dust drifted through the air.

Rocks clattered.

And it was unusually hot.

But at the moment, there was no lava in sight.

So Mike carefully placed Tyla on a stone.

Then he went back to the collapsed cave.

Mike said,

"Okay, I'm coming now—don't worry!"

The girl answered,

"Quick! Please!"

Mike didn't know what else to do but to strike the rocks.

So he raised his hand and hit the hard stone with his knuckles—

but to his surprise, it collapsed.

The stone fell, and a loud crash echoed.

Dust thickened the air.

And then they saw—

A girl with blonde hair,

blue eyes,

a dusty face, and a frightened expression.

Behind her, lava was bubbling wildly.

Mike held out his hand and asked,

"Are you coming?"

But when Mike reached out, the girl flinched and said quickly,

"Please don't hurt me!"

Mike asked,

"Huh? What?"

"I… I just saved you. I'm not going to hurt you??"

The girl cautiously took Mike's hand.

Her expression revealed she wasn't very happy about touching it.

Then Mike said,

"Don't worry, my left hand is clean."

Mike laughed.

But the girl looked around.

Then she asked,

"I-Is t-that… a girl over there?"

Mike turned his gaze from the blonde girl to Tyla.

He answered,

"Oh, uh, I met her in Stage 1. She's really good at archery—actually, really good."

"And what's your name?"

Mike looked back at the girl.

The girl replied,

"My name is Kya… a-and yours?"

Mike's expression grew curious.

Man, I'd really like to know what happened to her.

Then Mike said,

"So, the best archer is Tyla, and I'm Mike. And you're Kya, huh? Kya's a nice name."

Wind blew through the air.

Kya's expression softened.

Mike's eyes looked tired.

Then Mike said,

"Come on, we need to keep going. To that volcano up ahead, yeah?"

Kya said,

"That's where I wanted to go too, then—"

As Kya began telling her story, Mike lifted Tyla from the stone again and placed her on his shoulder.

Mike whispered,

"You can really wake up any time now."

Kya began to speak while walking.

"I died during a bank robbery… then I woke up in this place. I can't fight at all."

Her eyes stared off into the distance as if she were trying to avoid eye contact.

Then Kya continued,

"I was taken in by three boys. They fought for me. I only have one ability—it's not even an attack. I can heal wounds, at least light ones. If I say Heal, my hand glows and I can press it against the wound. It closes, but… well…"

"The three boys fought for me. We made it to the desert, but those worms were too strong. Two of them died during the scorpion fight."

Mike interrupted her,

"And the moth?"

Kya looked straight down.

Then she said,

"Hmm? A moth…? I-I'm sorry, but we didn't see a moth."

Mike apologized.

His face showed a strange expression—

but then he turned it into a smile.

"Okay, go on."

Kya continued,

"The last boy slowly lost his mind in this world… Then we went into the cave, but there he completely lost it. He swung his sword at me. I barely managed to kick him out of the cave at the last second—

but the cave collapsed during it."

Mike looked at Kya and waited for her to say something.

Then she spoke:

"Y-Yeah… that was my story."

"N-No… in my life, I never had a boyfriend."

Mike said,

"Why? You're beautiful."

Kya blushed.

"T-T-Thanks… They always said I was way too shy and that I had this 'talent' for being… b-beautiful."

It still felt like Kya was afraid and didn't fully trust Mike yet.

Mike noticed this and smiled at her.

Then he spoke calmly:

"It's okay now. I'm not a bad person, and I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want a second chance… I really messed up my life."

Mike turned his gaze toward the large volcano in front of them.

He said,

"I wonder what kind of boss is waiting for us now?"

They had reached the base of the volcano.

It was so hot—

it felt like they were burning alive.

Mike saw the door.

He opened it.

"Let's just get out of here!"

All three of them were teleported into the inside of the volcano—

but luckily, it was empty.

The ground was solid stone, flat, and there was no lava in sight.

"Good," Mike said.

He readied his dagger, took a deep breath, then got into a battle stance.

"Show me wha—"

Suddenly, a giant crashed down into the volcano.

A lava giant—

with a single eye!

The giant was made of stone and lava.

Mike was seriously fed up with the heat.

He said to Kya:

"Okay, seriously… enough of this hot vacation already!"

Then, gripping his dagger tightly in his hand, he rushed forward.

The giant roared—

and rocks fell from above.

Mike yelled:

"Watch out!"

But none of the rocks hit him, Tyla, or Kya.

They all missed.

The stones shattered on the ground—

and the floor trembled.

Then the fire giant swung both long arms at Mike.

Mike raised his dagger—

he parried both arms.

The giant's arms hit only the dagger,

but Mike held firm and pushed upward.

The giant's arms were forced upward too.

Now that the fire giant had both arms raised,

Mike quickly dodged around him and stabbed into the giant's stomach.

Lava poured out from every wound Mike made.

Mike jumped up, dagger in hand, and slashed the giant open.

Lava gushed from the wounds as Mike leapt back toward Kya.

The giant dissolved—

and so did the lava.

Mike put his dagger away and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then Mike said:

"Phew, tha—"

He looked down—

and saw a sword sliding through his stomach.

Kya screamed:

"No! It's the boy!"

Mike leapt forward—

the sword was ripped out of him as he jumped.

Blood dripped onto the ground.

But—

Mike looked at his system:

HP: 95

(You were hit with a critical strike.)

Mike grinned.

"So, you're the crazy one?

Alright then—let's fight."

The black-haired boy laughed.

He wore simple leather armor and held the same sword that had pierced Mike.

The blade was covered in blood—

dripping steadily onto the floor.

Then the boy laughed again—

and licked the blood from the sword.

"Give me more blooood… yesss!"

he said.

The boy sprinted toward Mike, sword raised.

But Mike dodged to the side, causing the boy to stumble as he tried again to charge forward.

The boy tripped and fell—

but the ground beneath him crumbled,

and he plunged into a deep abyss.

Mike said,

"Oh shit—Kya, get into the portal!"

Mike rushed over to Tyla, picked her up, and placed her on his back.

Then he heard:

"W-What's going on…?"

Tyla was awake again.

Mike had no time to explain—he stayed silent.

But just before reaching the portal—

the ground collapsed.

Mike jumped.