Chapter 143

Having been spat back out into the jungle, they lay sprawled on the ground, groaning with phantom pains. They felt as though they were about to develop a physical illness from the sheer stress—or perhaps they already had.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault, yet they lay with their backs to each other as if estranged, pointlessly plucking at the weeds growing in the dirt. Meanwhile, Theo and Blaine were crouched in a corner, fussing over some wild flowers they’d found, making flower rings and tucking blossoms behind each other’s ears.

After flirting with Blaine for a good while, Theo brushed himself off and stood up, prodding the three who were still lolling about.

“Hey, let’s get moving. Get up, already.”

At the sound of Theo’s voice, the three weed-pluckers staggered to their feet and looked his way. Their faces twisted into unimpressed, smug grimaces.

“Oh, certainly. Mr. Flower Boy.”

Theo frowned, tilting his head in confusion at the remark, before the realization hit him. Blaine had tucked a blue flower behind his ear, mentioning it matched his hair color perfectly. Theo hurriedly snatched the flower away, trying to act nonchalant, but the tips of his ears were stained a deep red.

Father, Holanghee, and Noquia spent the entire walk back to the suspension bridges teasing and bickering with him, scraping at Theo’s nerves. They seemed to have decided that since they were already annoyed, they might as well make the most of this newfound ammunition.

Arriving at the bridges once more, they reached a consensus to try a different path at the junction and began to cross. However, not long after they set foot on the bridge, a whirlpool formed on the water’s surface, and a pillar of water surged up to swallow them whole.

Back in the jungle once more, accompanied by that mocking bird-cry, they stood with vacant faces for a moment before starting to piece together what was happening.

“I think it’s random,” Blaine said.

Theo nodded in agreement. “Right? It doesn’t seem like the locations are fixed.”

“Wait, if they just pop up randomly, does that mean our lives are purely up to luck? Until we cross that whole bridge?” Noquia asked.

“We should be able to dodge it, right? It takes a moment from the whirlpool forming to it actually shooting up. We just have to move then,” Father replied.

“We’ll find out soon enough…. If a whirlpool appears this time, let’s try to dodge immediately. See what happens,” Holanghee said, already climbing the stairs of the ruins.

Back at the suspension bridges, they began to cross while keeping a sharp eye out for the rising water. Since the path itself wasn’t the issue, they chose to go straight at the junction, just as Blaine had originally suggested.

They pressed on, enduring traps where planks crumbled or hand-ropes went slack, until they saw a whirlpool forming directly beneath them.

“Hey, here it comes!” Father shouted.

The gale-force winds generated by the vortex slammed into everyone along with the swaying bridge. The ground beneath them shook frantically, and the biting wind was so sharp they could barely keep their eyes open. Screams broke out here and there, but they pushed forward desperately, relying on the sensation in their fingertips and toes. By a hair’s breadth, they managed to evade the water column attack.

Drenched but safe from the immediate danger, they sank down while clutching the ropes, looking back at the path they had just cleared. After a brief silence, cheers erupted. If they had alcohol, they would have raised a celebratory toast right then and there.

After laughing and chatting for a moment in relief, they resumed their crossing. They dodged several more traps and water attacks until they lost track of how far they had come.

Eventually, they reached a path that consisted only of footholds without any hand-ropes. Stepping on them tentatively, they found the planks weren’t loose but solid; as long as they maintained their balance, crossing seemed feasible. Still, they couldn’t afford to be careless. After scrutinizing the area for anything suspicious or threatening, they began to cross cautiously.

Not long into the trek across the seemingly endless bridge, they found something suspicious. An old rope was tied to the bridge. Father leaned over and pulled at it, realizing it dangled far below the bridge, and peered down.

“Whoa…”

A lament escaped her lips. Beneath the bridge, floating just above the surface of the rapids, was a treasure room.

It seemed they were intended to climb down this weathered rope to enter it.

“They just want us to die, don’t they?” Father muttered in disbelief while holding the rope. It was so frayed it looked like it would snap if she pulled too hard. The others crouched beside her to inspect the rope and the chasm below.

“Are we supposed to go bungee jumping with this?”

“I’d rather give up on the treasure than have to come all the way back here again.”

“At this point, our goal isn’t treasure; it’s just clearing this thing and getting out.”

Crouched in a row and speaking one after another, Theo, Noquia, and Holanghee looked for all the world like a group of street thugs. They grumbled and cursed, even spitting in distaste, before finally standing back up.

Unlike the interior of the ruins, finding the way on the suspension bridges was incredibly difficult. As they progressed and died repeatedly, it became a struggle even to remember the path they had already taken.

Falling to their deaths when planks broke, getting blasted by water pillars, plummeting together when ropes unraveled, being blown away by sudden gusts of wind—eventually, they crossed the bridges through nothing but sheer, spiteful determination.

As they struggled forward, a stone path finally appeared in the distance, replacing the suspension bridges. It seemed this godforsaken bridge section was finally over.

Regardless of potential traps, they practically sprinted across the remaining stretch. The moment they stepped onto the stone path, fireworks and fanfares exploded overhead.

“?”

Bewildered, they looked at the empty air where the fireworks had burst, and then they heard the sound of cheering. Thinking Is it finally over? they all headed toward the source of the noise. The end of the path was a staircase, and below it, people dressed in what looked like traditional Mayan clothing stood in rows, scattering petals and confetti, waving bouquets and welcoming them. One-Horned Savages and Piyo Birds wandered around the people as well.

At the end of the line of people stood an arched gate magnificently decorated with flowers, fruit, vines, and leaves.

“I think it’s really over…. It’s over!”

Noquia was jumping with joy. The others, who had been staring blankly at the scene below the stairs, late joined in the celebration, hugging each other and cheering.

The five of them scrambled down the stairs without a single regret. They were filled only with the desire to leave this garbage dungeon and rest. As they descended, the rows of people handed them bouquets, showered them with confetti and petals, and offered words of congratulations.

It was as loud and flamboyant as a hero returning after defeating a demon king. Even though these were just NPCs, the five of them took the hospitality in good spirits, responding to greetings with greetings and congratulations with words of thanks as they passed through the decorated path.

When they reached the arched gate—surely the finish line—the eyes of the people lining the sides suddenly changed. They drew daggers hidden within the bouquets and lunged at the group. By the time they regained their senses, they were back at the very beginning.

“…Son of a bitch.”

It was a nightmare of a dungeon until the very end.

Eventually, they managed to clear the dungeon and emerged into the lobby. Exhausted by a dungeon that caught them off guard until the absolute final moment, they all slumped onto the floor.

“I don’t even have the energy to go home.”

Noquia spoke as she massaged her own legs. “Tell me about it,” Holanghee agreed, stretching her legs out toward Noquia as if demanding a massage of her own. Noquia looked at her in disbelief but started kneading Holanghee’s legs without further complaint.

Father shuffled over behind Holanghee, waiting her turn, when something seemed to occur to her. She looked over at Blaine.

“Oh, right. What did you get from the treasure chest?”

At Father’s question, everyone’s eyes locked onto Blaine. He seemed to have momentarily forgotten about the chest himself; his eyes went wide, and he hurriedly opened his inventory.

“I-I’ll check right now!”

Blaine opened the treasure chest with eyes full of anticipation. However, the moment he saw what was inside, his excited expression wilted into a pout.

“Oh…”

At his low sigh, Theo tilted his head. “Why? Did something bad come out?”

“Uh… well…”

Blaine trailed off, glancing at everyone as if checking their moods.

“What is it?” Father pressed.

Blaine hesitated before finally answering, “…A potion.”

Everyone stared at Blaine in silence. Some even dug out their ears, wondering if they had misheard. Theo, unable to process it, asked, “…Huh?” while Father furrowed her brows deeply. “A potion? What kind of potion?”

Potions varied wildly. There were basic ones that restored Health and Mana, and specialized ones that boosted Attack, Defense, or Stamina. The expensive ones could fetch quite a high price.

With eyes full of a strange, creeping dread, the group watched as Blaine summoned the item from the chest onto his palm.

“A Lesser Health Potion… the kind they sell at the shops…”

Noquia, blinking as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, stammered out a question. “The… the 100-gold one?”

Costs 100 gold to buy. Sells for 70 gold.

“Yes…”

Their mouths hung open like fish. They were speechless. What kind of catastrophe was this? This was a treasure chest Blaine had retrieved; how could such foul luck have struck? As Father, Holanghee, and Noquia mentally cycled through the possibilities, the realization hit them all at once. They turned their heads in unison to glare at Theo.

“This is Theo’s curse.”

“There’s no other way to explain it.”

“He’s been tainted. The ‘Shit Luck’ beat the ‘Gold Luck’.”

As Father, Holanghee, and Noquia took turns blaming Theo, Blaine shook his head vigorously, insisting that couldn’t be it. Theo, meanwhile, wore a face like he’d just chewed on a lemon, wondering how on earth this was his fault.

As the two sat huddled together in denial, Father stood up with a solemn, dignified expression.

“Blaine, stay away from Theo for a while. Let’s go to Hellier, perform some ritual ablutions, and purify your body and soul.”

Helier was the capital of Shekinah, the holy region. At Father’s suggestion to shake off the “Theo-taint” and become sacred again, Blaine clung to Theo with a face that looked ready for tears. Theo, hugging Blaine back, swung an arm at Father as if shooing away a fruit fly.

“Dammit, am I a plague or something?!”