The walk was leading nowhere.
They had barely moved one or two kilometers from the cave, yet the heat had reached such an extreme that even standing upright felt like a superhuman task—as if they were standing inside the burning mouth of an active volcano.
For a moment, Froggy thought he saw a skeleton in the corner of his vision, holding a scythe while wiping sweat off its skull.
He squinted to look again.
It was gone.
Many of the dwarves had already collapsed, sprawled across the ground from the brutal heatstroke. There was nothing left to do.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[HERO IN CRITICAL CONDITION]
Health decreasing…
And the health kept dropping.
-5…
He looked up at the sky.
-5…
He looked at the dwarves collapsing.
-5…
Then he looked at that distant point, shining like the sun itself.
He couldn't fully make it out through the hot air warping his sight, and with the scorching heat consuming them all, they were trapped in a situation with no apparent escape.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[Threat to user identified.]
[(THE ABSOLUTE LAVA LIZARD) is approaching your position.]
—That… doesn't look… very good… Do you think I can win? —Froggy barely managed to say.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
"192,918,716,514 possible outcomes calculated."
—In… how many… do I win?
[IN NONE OF THEM]
He was truly doomed.
The point kept growing larger, approaching despite still being far away—very, very far away.
Its presence felt real.
It felt like even if it stood on the other side of the world, you would still feel it.
That heat.
Every step the creature took made the ground tremble.
Step after step.
One quake after another.
Finally, it opened its mouth.
And Froggy felt it.
H…e…R…o…E
The word pierced to the deepest part of him.
That voice was horrifying.
As if fire itself had learned how to speak.
Froggy stood up. The heat still blinded him, but he held its gaze with every ounce of strength he had left.
He could finally see it clearly.
Eyes like collapsing stars.
A body entirely made of lava.
Everything about it screamed final boss.
Froggy didn't even have the strength to sigh.
After seeing it, he turned in the opposite direction and started moving as far away from that thing as possible.
He did not want to find out what happened if it got any closer.
H…e…R…o…E
The voice entered him again.
—So… annoying… —he muttered through clenched teeth.
He didn't know if it was frustration, exhaustion, or simply the absurdity of having to face something like this when he had only arrived in this world yesterday.
But he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with burning air.
Then exhaled.
And walked back toward the dwarves.
He looked at them.
Especially that one.
The dwarf who had spent so much effort trying to kill him.
The most aggressive one.
He had collapsed too.
Froggy touched his shoulder.
—Rest… I'll… handle… the rest…
It was a heroic line he vaguely remembered from some manga.
He didn't have the strength to think much more.
The heat was consuming him.
—There… has to be… something…
He fell into a seated position.
He could no longer remain standing.
—System… analyze the enemy.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[Analyzing… Analyzing…]
[THE ABSOLUTE LAVA LIZARD]
Description: Ancient being capable of destroying civilizations and melting the sun simply by existing.
Level: BEYOND MORTALITY
—Can… my knife… shine… like before… again?
It was one option he considered.
But what good was blinding an enemy whose mere presence cooked you alive?
—Weapon stats.
[LEGENDARY WEAPON: RUSTY KNIFE - SSR RANK]
Strength: +0.5
Description: Shines slightly to reveal your location to all enemies.
Status: Impossible to unequip.
Show potential: [Yes] [No]
That "potential" window had never been there before.
With hope, he pressed Yes.
[Analyzing… Analyzing…]
[Potential of S#)/" ERROR discovered]
[Knife has lost all potential.]
The system glitched.
He no longer had words to describe his situation.
He had accepted it already.
Things were just… really bad.
Still, he laughed faintly with what little breath the burning air allowed him.
He stood again.
Harder than before.
His legs hurt.
And facing his enemy, he raised his weapon and pointed it at him.
—I… am… the…
His breath gave out.
—The…
He coughed several times.
His throat burned.
—The hero… Green… Froggy…
The heat pierced into his head.
No thoughts remained.
H…e…R…o…E
—LIZARD!
He shouted with every last bit of strength.
H…e…R…o…E
—HOW… DARE… YOU… TRY… TO DESTROY… MY BED!
He remembered the straw bed in the cell.
Those precious moments they had shared.
Even if only for a day.
That soft bed…
M…o…R…t…A…L…
The lizard spoke again.
Froggy grabbed his shaking legs as the ground trembled with them.
He would be incinerated in seconds.
—System… activate Unfortunate Misfortune.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[Skill activated.]
"Target selected successfully."
[Unfortunate Misfortune cast on THE ABSOLUTE LAVA LIZARD]
—Ha!... Now you'll feel… what it means… to have… bad luck…
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[ERROR: SKILL FAILED TO ACTIVATE SUCCESSFULLY]
—What?
The ancient being walked slowly.
It looked upon the distant figure.
An insignificant creature emitting a peculiar glow.
The master of fire.
The one who created this dungeon and shaped it for his own comfort.
It gazed upon the mortal.
It had seen many displaced beings before.
But never one like this.
He looked ancient and pathetic at the same time.
For the first time in millennia, that ancient being felt something close to pity.
It was strange.
It did not feel like the emotion came from itself.
It felt imposed.
Yet it did not resist.
It accepted it.
Though the feeling lasted only a few seconds.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
[Someone has sympathized with you.]
"Friend request."
1. [Maybe]
2. [Maybe yes]
3. [Maybe no]
—What… is… this?
Who, in this heat, felt sympathy for him right now?
With a trembling finger, he pressed [Maybe yes]
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[You have obtained a friend.]
="(("/"!!==)(/#
[THE ABSOLUTE LAVA LIZARD has been successfully added as a friend.]
["(/&"$!"#]
Error… Error… ERROR…
Froggy trembled.
Because the whole dungeon trembled.
He collapsed to the ground with no strength left.
The heat was too high.
Too much.
Lying there, barely conscious, he looked forward one last time at the creature…
Before his consciousness faded.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[Recalculating ally statistics…]