Into the Hidden Dungeon!

(Noah's Pov)

Do you know in stories there's a stage where the protagonist gets a new power, a boost for proving himself, or some shit?

If you think about it, you had to realize that they get it for free without going through any actual tough shit compared to the power level they gain, an op power.

This hidden dungeon serves that purpose in the novel.

What's inside the hidden dungeon? Well, nothing but two different ways leading to two different types of power.

In the novel, the protagonist along with the female lead, Aqua and Alyssa enter this hidden dungeon together and then both go down the path laid in front of them.

Since the novel followed the protagonist's point of view, that is, Aqua's I only know about the shit Aqua had to do to get his power but ...that power had a lot of restrictions and honestly, it wouldn't suit me.

In other words, the path I am going to go on is the one Alyssa walked down, there were only a few things said about what Alyssa faces so I will have to work with that.

The path Aqua had walked led him to an angel and the one that Alyssa walked down led her to a devil.

It worked wonders since Aqua has a light affinity and Alyssa has a dark affinity.

At any rate, the point is, this hidden dungeon is just that.

Going inside it, walking down the path, meeting the angel or devil depending on the path you walked, and well, getting your power after some proving shit and all with each other and boom, we done baby.

Clearing condition for this hidden dungeon is simple, to get out of the dungeon safely without dying and duh, convincing the angel/devil to give their power as I said.

Basically, make sure the angel or devil whomever you are meeting doesn't blow your brains out or else you die.

Simple, isn't it?

Of course, don't even think of fighting them, you don't stand a chance. They are too powerful.

Now that I think about it, this was probably the foreshadowing of how very powerful beings exist in the world.

Oh well, anyway.

"So, we just have to walk down and deal with whatever gets thrown at us?" 

"That's right."

"And since it depends on the person who they meet, there's no guarantee on what kind of task one would be given?"

"That's right"

Duh, it's a personal test the angel/devil will give to the person they meet, in that regard there's no knowing if they had given the same kind of prove shit thing as in the novel upon meeting a completely different person.

"This sounds like a pain"

"It is"

She sighed while I stretched my hands in the air. I told her about how there will be two pathways and we both have to walk down one each. Of course, that's a lie. I just don't want her to walk the same one as me.

Duh, I omitted all the information about the novel and all.

"So, you ready, Eliona?" I asked as I called her name.

"I am," She said taking a deep breath and looking directly at the blue-colored portal.

With that, I took a step forward and she moved her wheelchair forward, into the portal as the purple color screen showed itself up.

[The requirement of the minimum number of members needed has been met! Congratulations on finding the hidden dungeon! Please choose the path you would like you walk on!

The Path to the Angel Or The Path to the Devil]

I tilted my head to the side as we both looked at each other from the corner of our eyes with a clear understanding.

We had talked about this before and so we spoke our answers.

"The Path to the Angel"

"The Path to the Devil"

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(Eliona's Pov)

"The Path to the Angel"

As I said those words, my vision started to become blurry, and a nauseating feeling started to well up inside of me, it felt like my entire body was being stretched to its last fiber as panic and fear took hold of me.

However I soon realized that the experience didn't carry any pain along with it and by the time I did, I found myself throwing up.

I have heard about the experience that people go through when they enter a dungeon but I am differently sure this experience was different from what people have described.

So, a hidden dungeon and a dungeon are two different things in all essences? 

I had thought the way the portal worked would at least be the same.

"I feel like shit..."

Agh, I need to be prepared, it's a hidden dungeon! Damn it! I need to be alert!

I tried to take my surroundings into view only to find nothing but an ever-stretching land ...clouds?

Wait, am I on the clouds!?

I am definitely on the clouds, aren't I!?

"Woah...."

The gentle, warm, and fragrant air caressed my cheeks. The scenery felt incredible to look at, I looked all around, the clouds moving while I remained in the same position.

The soft and a little cold feeling permeated through my hands touching the clouds, along the sun shining upon me started to slowly make me feel relaxed.

The nausea I was feeling started to vanish and my fear and panic started to settle itself down.

Lying down on the clouds I couldn't help but think I could have a comfortable sleep here. It's been quite some time since I relaxed properly. The tiredness started to creep into my eyes and I slowly closed them.

Man, this feeling coursing through my entire bod-

Slap!

I slapped my cheeks jolting my body upward, with eyes wide open, and bit my lip to wake myself awake clearly using the pain.

Where's my wheelchair I thought as I tried to look around only to not find it but instead of a wheelchair, I did find something else entirely.

Stairs?

They weren't there before.

I guess, I can't use my wheelchair then, huh?

Slowly I started crawling towards the stairs that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Once I reached them, I read a note written on the first stair step.

[Once you start climbing, you cannot stop until you reach the top. However, if you choose to stop then you shall face consequences.]

I looked upward and I couldn't for the life of me see the end of these stairs.

I can't even walk, you know and you want me to crawl my way up there?

Backing away from the stairs I looked around only to find another problem coming at me.

Huh!?

The once-soft clouds were turning into spikes!

The spikes were inching closer and closer from all directions at an incredibly fast pace, it wouldn't be long before there wouldn't be a single place where I would be able to stay.

Without wasting another second, I started to crawl up the stairs.

The moment, my entire body was on the stairs, entirely of the once-cloudy land had turned into a completely spike-filled land.

I looked at the scenery that had completely changed, completely shocked as I gaped.

[You have stopped moving before reaching the end you shall face the consequences]

I read the words that showed up in cloudy letters in front of my eyes unable to understand them.

It didn't take me long to realize the weight of those words as it soon dawned on me.

"Huh..."

My entire left vision had darkened. I had lost my left eye as blood kept spurting out of it.

"ARGH!!!"

[Please continue moving and do not stop until you reach the end]

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(Eliona's Pov)

What would you do if you were a failure of a child?

A child that is nothing but a disappointment to their parents?

A child that your parents are ashamed to introduce to others?

Every parent has expectations of their child when they are born in the world, he/she will grow up to be strong, smart, respectful, useful, and influential members of society.

My parents were no different, no, they were a bit different. They were sure that I had turned out to be a great person.

They had celebrated my birth rather grandly. They had given an incredible amount of money to the charity. They distributed food and clothing to many homeless people, beggars, and people living in slums.

I was given a blessed life, wasn't I?

My birth was the talk of the news channels for days.

I was loved, incredibly so, for simply being born.

It was when I turned 3 that my parents finally decided to look at my class, it was a useless class, I didn't have any affinity and so, their expectations were broken.

No, expectation is the wrong word. Yes, the correct word would be ...delusion.

Those delusional bastards had their delusion broken.

They were so sure that they had given birth to an incredible life, an incredible talent, so sure that I must have been born with an incredible class like them and for bringing such an incredible life into existence they had felt that they too were special.

When they finally thought they should start training me, they decided it was time to take a look at my class and that was when their delusions were broken.

....and I was hated, incredibly so, for simply being born.

I was a failure of a child to them, nothing but a disappointment, someone they were ashamed to introduce to others and so they locked me in a room and asked me to never get out of there.

And then one day, they brought a girl home, she had the same hair as me, same eye color as me, our height was quite different and so were our faces but ...that was enough.

That day, I was abandoned. I don't know why they didn't simply kill me but left me on some random street at the age of 8.

I was angry, sad, frustrated, hurt, lost and alone.

But I was able to build myself up again from scratch. I had survived all on my own.

My class may have been useless to my parents but it wasn't useless enough I can't earn myself a normal living.

Using my class Wind Whisperer, I was able to keep on living. I used illegal means to somehow go inside the dungeon and earn by hunting down the monsters, collecting their cores, and selling them.

Once I had become of legal age I decided to make myself an official adventurer license and enter the dungeon through legal means.

It had taken time but I had managed to make friends, find a lover, and build a home of my own.

But all of it came crashing down once more.

The day I lost my legs and everything once again changed.

My friends, lover, they all fucking left, to them I had become a burden, one they didn't need in their life.

I-

Why am I still living?

I don't know

What am I trying to even achieve? 

I don't know

All I know is, I don't want to keep living like this and I still don't want to die.

"Haaa~"

Taking an exhausted breath with my mouth, I crawled a step more, my left eye was nowhere and my right hand had been twisted in unnatural ways, I had tried to use my class Wind Whisperer to help me climb up but it seemed like I had to crawl my way up, with my limbs alone.

I don't know how many days have passed. I had used healing potions that I had bought with me, water, and food in the hidden dungeon but I had used them all.

And now, my throat was parched, my stomach empty and my breath ragged as I kept crawling without stopping, the end still not visible.

What a shitty life I have been given, haven't I?

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(Noah's Pov)

"The Path to the Devil" 

Feels fucking cringe to even say it.

As I said those words my vision distorted as my body felt like it was getting stretched. Hmm? 'Tis feels a bit different from when I entered the dungeon.

I didn't notice it back then but ...hidden dungeon and dungeon portals work differently, don't they?

Whatever.

Gotta focus on the job. As my vision stabilized I looked around me only to find nothing but a barren, destroyed land.

The fuck am I supposed to do in this wasteland?

I looked around and soon found a stairway.

Wait... I swear, it wasn't there before!

What sorcery is this!?

I walked towards the stairway that would lead me downwards ...just how deep in the ground were we going? I couldn't even see the end of the stairs as I tried to peer down.

Suddenly, the wasteland started bursting lava outta it.

The hell?

Guess, down the stairs is the only choice.

I readied myself as I read the note that told me that I couldn't stop once I started descending down the stairs.

Bruh.... I ain't gonna walk down the stairs, Imma just jumps down, that's much easier.

And that's what I did.

I wonder how things are on her end, she gonna have a hard time considering she took items along with her in the hidden dungeon.

Well, everyone learns the hard way, I too did.