Half an hour later, Kevin stood atop the manor's rooftop, igniting a fire and tossing another object into the blaze, causing the smoke to swirl into a vivid yellow.
Watching the tendrils of yellow smoke curl skyward, Erik hoped fervently that the other two players would soon arrive bearing the key to the breeding chamber.
Thus she waited—two full days elapsed, during which the fire on the rooftop never wavered.
Throughout this time, the gag in Emily's mouth remained untied. Erik observed the complex blend of emotions in Emily's gaze directed at Kevin, yet as he remained silent, so too did she, and the bald man followed suit.
At this juncture, who still believed Kevin to be the forlorn wanderer who had lost three years to the forest?
The bond between him and Emily ran far deeper than he had confessed, though none dared delve too far. Once the light ring appeared, all traces vanished, and no player recognized another upon departure.
On the morning of the third day, the ponytailed girl appeared at the manor's doorway, dragging Ryan along.
"No trap, after all!" The ponytail's eyes glistened with excitement and unshed tears.
Twenty minutes later, Kevin unpacked a box Ryan had brought; inside, the key that unlocked the breeding chamber's door.
"Incredible fortune! Ryan, you truly are a lucky soul!" The ponytailed girl beamed with exhilaration.
"Light ring!" the bald man shouted with triumph, all the weariness and frustration of recent days dissolving. He was first to dash forward, vanishing from sight in an instant.
"I'm going, too. Farewell," the ponytailed girl waved at Erik before stepping inside as the second to enter.
Ryan chuckled cheerfully, "Goodbye, newbie."
Erik smiled and waved in return, then followed.
She turned to Kevin. "Thank you for this run. Until fate reunites us."
"Farewell."
Leaning casually against the doorway beside Emily, Kevin merely nodded nonchalantly.
Erik stepped into the light ring.
[Player Erik has completed the ordinary level: Dinosaur Paradise, earning 4 points.]
As she materialized amidst the stone pillars, she exhaled deeply; this task differed fundamentally from any she had undertaken before.
A premonition stirred within her: without Kevin's guidance as a seasoned player, the rest would face staggering difficulty in clearing this dungeon.
She preferred the earlier trials—simple flights reliant upon stamina and luck—where direction was clear, and failure meant only that one had been too slow, overcome by inevitable peril.
Raising her foot to leave the stone pillars, Erik spotted the ponytailed trio waiting at the mission hall's threshold.
"Hey, fancy seeing you again! Shall we dine together?" Ryan smiled warmly.
The bald man rose, declaring, "Let's go to the inn. I rushed out earlier, too excited. I really should have savor more of the manor's roast beef before leaving—what a loss!"
The ponytailed girl smiled at Erik, "Shall we?"
Erik nodded. "Yes."
The four made their way to the inn.
"That Kevin is definitely suspicious!" the bald man murmured once seated. "Otherwise, he'd have feasted a bit more before leaving. Isn't it odd? Perhaps he feared any lingering moment might bring disaster, hence his haste to flee!"
Within the dungeon, Kevin remained behind, crouching to remove the gag from Emily's mouth.
Recovering her voice, Emily whispered, "You're not leaving?"
"I am. Emily, do you have regrets?"
"Regrets?" Emily sneered. "I regret trusting you, nurturing you—only to be stabbed in the back."
Kevin regarded her steadily. "Do you still recall the purpose that kept you here at the start? Your path has long veered astray; there is no return."
The idea of having her ideals dismissed was Emily's greatest torment. "What nonsense! I am on the cusp of success!"
"You have chosen the wrong path," Kevin persisted calmly. "You know well what you have done to this dungeon. Do you still consider yourself a player?"
His words struck like a hammer blow. Emily faltered, pupils trembling, face paling.
"You once spoke of how to clear this dungeon, did you not? You said the moment it began, the genetically engineered dinosaurs ran rampant, lab NPCs fled by helicopter, the manor was abandoned, and players' goal was to evade the dinosaurs until the pack devastated the dungeon, enabling the light ring to be unearthed where the breeding chamber stood. It should have been a relatively straightforward trial." Kevin's tone was composed, devoid of bitterness that Emily had transformed a simple dungeon into a nightmarish ordeal.
"You have endured two dungeon resets. Why then did the original NPCs never reappear? Did you witness the helicopter on the rooftop's helipad refreshing during those resets?"
With each word spoken, Emily's visage drained further of color, until after his final question, she resembled a lifeless corpse.
"Tell me, why did this dungeon reset? Why was I transported back to the forest? When I and the other players appeared there, just as the dungeon reset—where were you?"
It seemed these few questions were all he intended to utter. Having spoken, he prepared to depart.
Kevin untied the ropes binding Emily and rose, moving towards the light ring. Just as he was about to step through, Emily, as if reclaiming her voice, screamed hoarsely, "What nonsense are you spouting!"
No one heeded her cries; the final player departed.
With no one to absorb her anguish, Emily's grimace slowly softened. She brooded in silence for a long while, her mind swirling with countless thoughts, before steadying herself against the door and rising.
She took two steps forward but, upon reflection, reversed course and left the breeding chamber, stealthily retreating to the core laboratory.
Dedicating herself, she first restored the laboratory's circuitry and seized the moment to probe the lingering enigmas that still haunted her.
Fourteen hours later, satisfied at last, she headed to the canteen. With the power cut, the refrigerated meats had spoiled, so she opened a can of luncheon meat, stir-fried vegetables, and simmered a bowl of soup. After a hearty meal, she changed into fresh clothes.
Fully prepared, she returned to the breeding chamber.
Kevin's words echoed persistently in her mind—a background murmur she had managed to ignore during her experiments, but now, her unrest grew insistent, her steps hesitant.
"He's deceiving me, tricked me into confining him for three years," she told herself, yet strode resolutely into the light ring.
Seconds slipped into minutes, minutes into hours, yet she remained stationary.
During that time, Emily reflected deeply and unearthed subtle details she had consciously overlooked.
Indeed, after she had successfully altered the dungeon, she ought to have realized she was no longer a mere player.
She had possessed the dungeon, yet the dungeon had equally ensnared her.
When Kevin and his cohort entered the dungeon, where was she? Within the breeding chamber.
Yet she had always refused to accept this truth, obscuring and deceiving herself until now—when self-deception was no longer possible.
From that moment onward, she had been trapped.
No wonder Kevin had played along with her for three years, feigning submission without resistance or control, waiting for the dungeon's reset to make his move.
Surely, he feared that prolonged domination over her would likewise cause the dungeon to classify him as—
"NPC! How can I be an NPC? I am not! Let me go, I want to leave! Let me go! I cannot be an NPC! I am not!"
Outside, sparrows foraging among the manor's vegetable patch remained oblivious to the desperate screams from the underground laboratory. Sated, they shook their wings and flew off into the distance.
In the stone pillar forest, Kevin stood still, lost in rare contemplation.
Had he truly escaped?
He emerged, approached the mission hall, glanced at the bulletin for the latest dungeon updates, then leisurely strolled toward the inn.
Though trapped in the dungeon for three years, less than an hour had elapsed in the transit station, and the room he had reserved remained unexpired.
Returning to his quarters, he eschewed sleep, instead retrieving the notebook stashed beneath his pillow.
Within it lay records of all the dungeons he had traversed over more than a month in the infinite escape game (transit time). After over three years of entrapment, many memories had blurred. Gaining Emily's trust and favor demanded great effort; during those years, he had forsaken all else, dedicating himself wholly as her aide. Now, with his "undercover" mission complete, his life readjusted, and he sought to rekindle his dungeon experience.
His sister, once a beneficiary of this game, had confided in him before succumbing to illness.
"I cannot write it down; every word would be destroyed." She looked at him wistfully. "If ever you meet danger or calamity, I hope you are fortunate enough to encounter that game, too." She imparted several principles she had distilled before passing away.
Though doctors predicted three months, she died soon after revealing that secret.
When Kevin was near death from a car accident, his sister's words returned to him; upon opening his eyes again, he found himself within the game—her words were true.
"This afternoon, I shall resume dungeons, regain my touch," Kevin murmured. "Once I've regained my feel, I will proceed with the supernatural dungeon as planned."
In other rooms within the inn, Erik bathed and then began inventorying her spoils.
This was her lengthiest dungeon challenge yet. Though fraught with doubts and twists, she had procured substantial supplies.
Foremost, she obtained a considerable quantity of dinosaur meat and a pristine dinosaur skull, which she proudly displayed at the supermarket entrance for an imposing effect.
Second, she covertly smuggled various materials from the underground laboratory—two crates of luncheon meat, three crates of canned fruits and vegetables, three crates of sauces including tomato ketchup, one crate of pasta, and two bags of flour. Under Kevin's watchful eye, she dared not be overly bold; otherwise, she could have seized even more. She longed for the farm and ranch provisions on the grounds but, careful while sneaking through the warehouse in darkness, she was even more cautious with surface supplies, only pilfering a few vegetables to sneak into the supermarket during gathering. During those days, Kevin had slain a cow, dissuading her from any further bold moves.
Still, Erik was gratified; such gains were beyond expectation.
Opening a can of apple slices, she ate thoughtfully while recalling her earlier conversation with the ponytailed girl and others.
Newcomers themselves, they were still bewildered; as the one most familiar with Kevin, they had to glean information through her. Erik shared all she knew without concealment, including the perils of killing. After the meal, Erik had departed. Now, eating apple slices, the memory of Emily's face returned, and she wondered how Kevin would treat her.
Had Emily blocked his departure three years prior, would he now return the favor by preventing her escape—an act of vengeance?
Her mind pieced together fragments of information, forming vague conjectures limited by incomplete data.
"Forget it, better to be cautious in future, and avoid another Emily," Erik thought, swallowing a mouthful of sweet apple and reclining comfortably, allowing herself an afternoon of leisure.
Around mid-afternoon, after resting, she set out again for the mission hall and stepped through the shimmering light ring into the dungeon once more.