The jungle went silent.
Not gradually.
Not slowly.
One moment, the endless sounds of Aethelspire filled the air—chirping insects, distant bird calls, rustling leaves dancing beneath the wind—and then the next moment...
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Rio's eyes narrowed.
The group had been moving through the dense forests of Casakola for almost thirty minutes now, carefully following the route on the map Rio had projected. Thick vines hung from ancient trees like ropes dangling from the heavens. Massive roots twisted across the earth like giant snakes, forcing everyone to watch their steps.
Sunlight barely reached the ground.
The forest canopy above was simply too dense.
The rays that managed to slip through created scattered beams of light that illuminated patches of moss and ferns beneath their feet.
Rio walked at the front while holding her Imperial Saber.
Slash.
Slash.
She calmly cut away vines and branches blocking the path.
Behind her walked Ryota and Silla while Kiraya and Hinabi remained nearby. Ramos stayed close to everyone like his life depended on it—which honestly wasn't wrong.
At the rear—
Sayanaki lazily walked with both hands behind her head.
Though "lazy" wasn't exactly accurate.
Her crimson eyes moved everywhere.
Tree branches.
Leaves.
Bushes.
Shadows.
Nothing escaped her vision.
Earlier she had casually begun collecting mushrooms from tree trunks and moss-covered rocks.
Kiraya had stared at her.
"...Why are you collecting mushrooms?"
Sayanaki lifted one purple mushroom.
"Might be poisonous."
"...And?"
"I can make antidotes later."
"...You know how to make medicine?"
Sayanaki shrugged.
"Assassins need weird hobbies too."
No one knew if she was joking.
And honestly...
No one wanted to ask.
Now—
The group had arrived near the edge of a rocky cliff.
Rio suddenly raised her hand.
"Stop."
Everyone immediately halted.
Ahead of them, the jungle floor suddenly ended.
A deep canyon stretched beneath them.
Massive rocky walls descended downward into darkness.
Mist floated below.
No one could see how deep it actually was.
A narrow path ran beside the cliff wall, barely wide enough for two people.
Rio looked at her map.
"We go left."
Ramos swallowed.
"...L-left?"
Rio nodded.
"The safer route."
Ramos looked down.
"...THIS is safer?!"
His voice echoed slightly.
Rio immediately glared at him.
"Lower your voice."
Ramos shrank.
"...Sorry."
They slowly moved.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Everyone carefully walked alongside the cliff wall.
Small rocks occasionally rolled off the edge and vanished into the abyss below.
Ramos was sweating heavily.
His legs were shaking.
Why...
Why were all these places so terrifying?!
Floor One had wolves.
Floor Two had assassins.
Now Floor Three had invisible dinosaurs, werewolf beastmen and some immortal jungle monster.
Who designed this game?!
Were the developers psychopaths?!
Ramos looked downward.
Bad decision.
Very bad decision.
His face instantly turned pale.
"...Hiiii..."
His foot slipped slightly.
"AHHH—!!"
His body tilted sideways.
Everything suddenly slowed.
Silla's eyes widened.
"Ramos!"
Hinabi immediately moved.
Her reflexes activated instantly.
She grabbed Ramos by his arm and pulled him back with all her strength.
Ramos crashed into her.
THUD!
"...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"...AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Both screamed.
Ryota immediately grabbed Ramos by the shoulders and pulled him completely back.
Kiraya steadied Hinabi.
Silla nearly collapsed from fright.
Ramos wrapped both arms around Silla.
"S-SILLA I SAW MY ANCESTORS—!!"
Silla patted his back.
"T-There there..."
Rio sighed.
"...Quiet."
Ramos froze.
Rio wasn't looking at him.
She had her finger against her lips.
Her eyes looked downward.
Everyone followed her gaze.
Then—
Everyone's eyes widened.
Far below the canyon...
Something massive rested between giant stone formations.
At first...
It looked like a mountain.
No.
A cliff.
No...
It looked like giant broken pillars stacked together.
Then suddenly—
Ryota realized something.
"...Wait."
"...That's moving."
Very slowly—
The giant stone surface shifted.
CRRRRRR...
Everyone froze.
What they thought were giant rocks...
Were scales.
Massive stone scales.
Entire chunks of moss-covered stone layered across an unimaginably enormous body.
The creature was curled beneath the canyon.
Sleeping.
Its body wrapped around itself dozens of times.
No one could even see where it ended.
Its head rested against a giant cliff wall.
Just its head alone...
Was larger than buildings.
The creature looked like a giant serpent carved from mountains themselves.
Ancient cracks covered its body.
Trees grew across parts of its back.
Plants and vines hung from it.
It looked less like a living creature...
And more like an entire ecosystem.
Ramos's lips trembled.
"..."
"..."
"...what..."
His voice cracked.
"What...is...THAT?!"
Rio immediately covered his mouth.
"QUIET."
Ramos nodded rapidly while crying.
Rio slowly looked downward.
"...Stone Basilisk."
Everyone stared.
"...Stone Basilisk?" Ryota whispered.
Rio nodded.
"They spend almost their entire lives sleeping."
"Most players never encounter them."
Kiraya stared.
"...How big is that thing?"
Rio narrowed her eyes.
"...No one knows."
"...Because nobody has seen its full body."
Cold sweat rolled down everyone's face.
No one...
Had seen its full body?
Rio looked toward Ramos.
"Your scream almost woke it."
Ramos nearly died.
"I'M SORRYYYYYY—"
"Quiet."
"Mmph!"
Rio removed her hand.
Everyone slowly stared downward again.
The giant serpent remained still.
Sleeping peacefully.
Then—
One of its eyes slowly opened.
...!!!
Everyone stopped breathing.
A giant yellow eye.
No.
Calling it yellow was wrong.
It looked like molten gold.
Ancient.
Cold.
Its pupil slowly moved upward.
Toward them.
Toward the cliff.
Toward—
Ramos.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ramos nearly fainted.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The Stone Basilisk stared at them for several seconds.
Then...
Its eye slowly closed.
CRRRRRR...
Its breathing returned.
The canyon shook slightly with every exhale.
Rio looked at everyone.
"...Move."
Nobody questioned her.
Not a single person.
They immediately began walking.
Very.
Very.
Very quietly.
Meanwhile—
Ramos had tears flowing down his face while holding Silla.
"...I wanna go home..."
The group continued moving along the narrow path beside the canyon wall.
No one spoke for several minutes.
After seeing the Stone Basilisk below them, even Sayanaki had become slightly quieter than usual.
Only the sound of footsteps and rustling leaves remained.
Ramos still looked pale.
Silla was holding onto his sleeve while trying to calm him down.
Kiraya occasionally glanced toward the canyon beneath them while Hinabi quietly adjusted her staff.
Rio remained at the front.
Her eyes continuously moved between the map and the surroundings.
Slash.
Her Imperial Saber cut through hanging vines.
Slash.
More leaves fell.
Ryota slowly walked beside her.
His eyes occasionally moved toward Rio.
There was something bothering him.
Something from earlier.
He leaned slightly closer and lowered his voice so only she could hear.
"...Hey."
Rio continued walking.
"Hm?"
Ryota looked around briefly.
"So in your old life..."
"...did you actually encounter the Old Hunter?"
Rio's movement paused for only a fraction of a second.
Then she continued walking normally.
"...No."
Ryota blinked.
"No?"
Rio shook her head.
"I wasn't foolish enough to walk outside at night during Floor Three."
"And I definitely wasn't foolish enough to go looking for that thing."
Her voice remained calm.
Almost too calm.
Ryota stared at her.
"You knew a lot about it though."
Rio looked ahead.
Her expression slowly changed.
The smile she usually wore disappeared slightly.
"I knew because people died."
Ryota's eyes narrowed.
Rio continued speaking quietly.
"I had guild members from the Royal Knights that encountered it."
Ryota froze.
Ahead, nobody noticed their conversation.
Only the two of them could hear each other.
Rio's eyes stared toward the distant forest.
"They were returning from a hunting expedition."
"There were six of them."
"They left during the afternoon."
"They should've returned before nightfall."
Her voice became quieter.
"They didn't."
Ryota looked at her silently.
Rio gripped her map slightly tighter.
"When we found them..."
"...their bodies weren't even together."
Ryota's eyes widened.
"When they respawned a few hours later, we asked them what happened"
Rio looked downward slightly.
"They said it followed them."
"...for four hours."
Ryota's breathing stopped for a moment.
"...Four hours?"
Rio nodded.
"They couldn't see it."
"They only knew something was there."
"They said the forest kept becoming quiet."
"Then they would smell something horrible."
"A smell like rotten animals mixed with skunk spray."
"They kept hearing footsteps."
"...branches breaking."
"...breathing."
Rio's eyes narrowed.
"But whenever they turned around..."
"...nothing was there."
Ryota felt cold sweat form.
Rio continued.
"At first they thought another guild was messing with them."
"Then one of them disappeared."
Ryota slowly looked at her.
Rio's face showed almost no emotion now.
"They searched for him."
"...then they found him."
"...half of his body was buried into the ground."
Ryota's eyes widened.
Rio's voice became even quieter.
"It slammed a tree into him."
"...the force shoved his body through the earth itself."
Ryota felt his entire body freeze.
Even hearing it sounded absurd.
No...
Terrifying.
Rio sighed softly.
"After the incident, nobody believed them."
Ryota looked at her.
"...Seriously?"
Rio nodded.
"They thought they were joking."
"They thought maybe they encountered some hidden monster and exaggerated the story."
"There were even people making fun of them."
She smiled bitterly.
"'The invisible jungle monkey.'"
"'The skunk monster.'"
"'The giant hairy grandma.'"
Ryota stared blankly.
"...Giant hairy grandma?"
Rio shrugged.
"Players are stupid."
Ryota nodded immediately.
"Fair enough."
Rio continued.
"But then..."
"...more attacks happened."
Her eyes became serious again.
"More players disappeared."
"More guilds reported encounters."
"Different stories."
"Different locations."
"But every single description matched."
She looked ahead.
"The forest becoming silent."
"The smell."
"The red eyes."
"The stalking."
Ryota swallowed.
"And eventually..."
Rio exhaled slowly.
"The entire player base confirmed it existed."
The wind moved through the trees.
Nobody around them noticed the conversation.
Rio's voice lowered again.
"I almost participated in an expedition."
Ryota looked at her.
"...You almost did?"
Rio nodded.
"Luckily I had plans during the exact same day so I didn't went along with it"
"It was organized by thirteen super guilds."
Ryota nearly tripped.
"...THIRTEEN?!"
Rio immediately glared.
Ryota covered his mouth.
"...Sorry."
She sighed.
"Each guild sent elite parties."
"Eight to ten members each."
"Players with rare classes."
"Hidden skills."
"Unique weapons."
"High levels."
Ryota slowly calculated in his head.
Over a hundred players.
Elite players.
Monsters.
"...What happened?"
Rio became silent.
For several seconds—
She didn't answer.
Then—
"...None of them came back alive."
Ryota stopped walking.
His body froze.
Rio continued walking.
"...Killed."
"Every single one."
"The next day people found weapons."
"Broken armor."
"Blood."
"...but no bodies."
Ryota stared at her.
Even his face had gone pale now.
Rio finally looked at him.
For the first time—
Her eyes held complete seriousness.
No jokes.
No teasing.
No confidence.
Nothing.
Just seriousness.
"Ryota."
"Not even us right now could fight it."
"...Not me."
"...Not you."
"...Not Sayanaki."
"...Not even Auram."
Her voice was absolute.
"We avoid the Old Hunter."
"...because there is no winning."
The wind blew through the forest.
Ryota slowly looked toward the dark trees surrounding them.
Suddenly—
The jungle felt a lot darker than before.
A lot bigger.
A lot quieter.
He swallowed.
Then quietly moved closer beside Rio.
Rio glanced sideways.
"...Why are you walking closer?"
Ryota looked completely serious.
"...In case giant hairy grandma appears."
Rio stared at him.
"..."
"..."
Then suddenly—
SMACK.
"Agh!"
Rio hit him on the back of the head.
"Idiot."
But despite saying that—
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
Just slightly.
And behind them—
Ramos suddenly shouted:
"WHY DOES IT HAVE A GRANDMA FORM?!"
Everyone stared at him.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Rio sighed.
"...We are never surviving this floor."