Rona: I want to burp.

  Isaac: Don't make a sound.

  Rona: But there are no holes here.

  Isaac: The holes weren't just there, Rona. They grew. They were ears. And the moment those kids screamed, the dungeon stopped listening... and started eating.

  Llyne: So those children before us… never even made it past the entrance.

  Isaac: Exactly. Dead the moment they walked in.

  Rona finally finished her post-beetle feast and patted her stomach in satisfaction.

  Llyne: Let's go, Rona. It's adventure time!

  Her eyes gleamed with childlike excitement as we ventured deeper, the blue light of our interfaces reflecting in her pupils like tiny, cold stars trapped under ice.

  The dungeon didn't stretch on. It swallowed distance. The walls were no longer stone, but a dull matte grey that seemed to absorb hope. It was a hungry architecture. The air was unnervingly stagnant, lacking the damp draft of a real cave. No dripping water. No shifting pebbles. Only the wet thrumming of our own pulses, echoing back as if the walls were listening to our hearts.

  Minutes bled into hours. Or maybe days. Without a sky, time didn't pass. It stagnated. The silence pressed against my eardrums. Every blink sounded like a shutter click. The cold wasn't just in the air. It pulled heat from our skin and left us hollow.

  Llyne: We walked for hours and nothing? What kind of dungeon is this?

  Isaac: Stop talking and move faster. There's something here. It might be just up ahead.

  Rona: Let's go! Let's go!

  Llyne: Alright, alright.

  And just as we took a few more steps forward, the oppressive dark was shattered. A blue screen bloomed into view, the light so sharp it felt like a physical slap to my tired eyes.

  [HP and MP are fully recovered]

  The effect was instantaneous and violent. A surge of heat raced through my veins, a cocktail of adrenaline and ice water. It didn't feel natural. It felt like being rewritten. The deep ache in my calves didn't just fade; it vanished as if it had never been there. I looked at my feet; the raw, bloody patches from my boots had been smoothed over into perfect, unblemished skin. It wasn't healing. It was a factory reset. Even the mental fog, the heavy exhaustion that had been weighing down my eyelids, was wiped clean.

  [Congratulations! You are the first to have made it past the 1st Stage.]

  Isaac: First and only.

  Llyne: That was only the first stage? That ain't good.

  Another notification followed, hovering patiently in the stale air.

  [If you are ready for the next stage, press the 'OK' button on the blue screen. If not, move back. When you're ready, return to this spot to proceed.]

  We stepped back. The screen didn't just turn off; it dissolved into the darkness.

  [You may use the camping function behind you. It helps build bonds between your teammates.]

  We turned around, and the breath left my lungs.

  A campsite sat in the center of the corridor. It hadn't "appeared". There was no flash of light, no sound of construction. It was simply there, as if it had been waiting long before we arrived. A tidy circle of weathered logs surrounded a fire that crackled with a rhythmic, hypnotic hiss. Three tents were pitched with military precision, their canvas flapping in a breeze that shouldn't have existed in this airtight tomb.

  The smell of woodsmoke, deceptively sweet and familiar, clashed violently with the metallic, oily tang of the "throat" we had just crawled through.

  Llyne: There wasn't anything there just now. This place is really freaking me out.

  Isaac: Only now?

  Rona didn't share my hesitation. She sprinted toward the warmth, spinning around the fire with a manic, sugar-high joy that sent sparks dancing into the dark. Her laughter sounded thin and brittle against the heavy silence of the cave.

  Isaac walked to the edge of the light, his hand hovering near the grip of his new katana. He studied the logs, the fire, the way the shadows danced on the "stone" walls.

  Isaac: I'm interested in the camping function. If it improves our bond, it might provide combat bonuses.

  Llyne: Yup. Let's find out.

  I walked toward the fire, but my skin crawled. The wood didn't look like oak or pine; the bark was a strange, pale grey, and the flames weren't orange; they were a deep, flickering violet. The violet flames didn't give off heat the way a normal fire should. They radiated a strange, artificial comfort that didn't belong in my bones.

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  We weren't just resting. We were accepting a gift from the thing that was trying to eat us.

  A new screen emerged.

  [Please choose your topic: Family, School Life, Ghost Story, Romance Life, Favourite Food, Pastime.]

  Llyne: I'll choose family.

  Isaac: Pastime.

  Rona: Favourite food!

  [You have chosen the topics: Family, Pastime, and Favourite Food to discuss. I hope you all will enjoy it. Have a great chat!]

  The screen faded again. Quiet filled the circle.

  Llyne: Guess they knew we're introverts, except Rona. Hahaha.

  Isaac: Who wants to start first?

  Rona: Me! Me! Food! Food!

  Isaac: Don't get hungry talking about food.

  Llyne: Why worry? She just ate. She won't be hungry that fast.

  Isaac: You clearly haven't studied the creature known as 'Rona'. Her hunger is a black hole.

  You didn't even know her that long.

  Rona: I love lots of food! Avocado egg sandwich, tomato mayo eggplant beef burger, sushi, lamb wrap, cheese salmon, chicken claypot, pork steak...

  Isaac: Stop. Do you know what "favourite" means?

  Rona: I know! It's a WORD! …And I'm hungry.

  She clutched her belly again.

  Isaac: Why did we let her pick?

  Llyne: Rona, if you could only pick one food. Just one. What would it be?

  Rona: I can't pick between stinky tofu with natto and King Beetle…

  Isaac: Just pick one before you eat us.

  She paused, deep in thought.

  Rona: King Beetle!

  Llyne: Oui. She's a monster eater.

  Isaac: Mine would be Ravonsac boar meat.

  Llyne: What boar?

  Isaac: It's a type of boar that's extremely hard to catch in the jungle. Massive. Ferocious. It hunts alone and has insane hearing. It can detect human flesh from a hundred miles away. You either use a special sniper or burn down the jungle to kill it.

  Rona: Wow! Sounds yummy.

  Isaac: Its meat is… different. It doesn't taste like game. It tastes like butter and iron. It's the only thing that makes the hunt worth the risk.

  Isaac looked down as if trying to hide a past. I didn't bother to look at him.

  Llyne: Wow, you know a lot about it.

  Isaac let out a silent sigh.

  Isaac: My father taught me. We lived in the jungle. He used to bring me hunting.

  Llyne: But I thought you'd never seen a forest. You were gawking outside the dungeon.

  Isaac: I was amusing you. It was fun.

  Llyne: Why you...

  Rona: What about your favourite food, Llyne?

  Llyne: My Ma's homemade meat pie.

  Rona: Me love meat pie too!

  Isaac: I doubt there's any food you don't like, Rona.

  Llyne: You'd love my Ma's meat pie. She always added just the right amount of spice.

  Spice that numbed your mouth. Sadly, Sis always gave it a pass, which was good for me. I got two portions.

  Isaac: Next topic: pastime. Mine are hunting, planting… and hacking.

  Llyne: Hacking? Which hat?

  Isaac: Black Hat.

  Llyne: Your parents know?

  Isaac: Nope.

  Rona: Isaac wears hat?

  Llyne: Not a real hat, Rona. It means Isaac is a bad person. Super duper bad.

  Rona: Isaac bad!

  [Rona sent a 'Bad' sticker]

  Isaac rolled his eyes like there's no tomorrow. And we proceeded to the next topic.

  Isaac: Let me guess, Rona's pastime is eating?

  Rona: Right! Isaac is a genius~

  Llyne: Only eating?

  Rona: Yup! I eat everything! No discrimination!

  Llyne: You mean you're not picky.

  Isaac: Whereas Llyne's pastimes were pranking and running.

  Llyne: So what?

  Isaac: Thank goodness I'm not your teacher.

  I stuck my tongue out.

  Llyne: Next is family. I have a mom, she's a housewife. A dad I've never met. And a sister I don't get along with.

  Rona: Never met your father?

  Llyne: No. Not once.

  Rona: Poor Lil.

  I shrugged it off. Who cares. My life is still fine.

  Llyne: Rona's turn.

  Rona: My loving family has me and my parents. I love them so much, and I know they do too, even though they were rarely home. Sometimes, when they came home, they brought strangers and told me to hide. If I tried to come out, they'd get mad and lock me in my room.

  A beat of silence.

  Isaac: Rarely home? New people? How...

  Llyne: So you really love them, right?

  Rona: Yup!

  (Private Message – Isaac → Llyne): Locked in her room? "New people"? Llyne, those weren't parents, they were jailers. It makes my skin crawl.

  (PM – Llyne): I know. But if you question her, it'll hurt her. Or worse, make her shut down. The only way is to show her what a real family looks like, and maybe she'll understand on her own.

  (PM – Isaac): You better be right. Or, they're in for it.

  (PM – Llyne): Let's survive first. You can rage later.

  Rona: Is Isaac's family great too?

  Isaac: Way better.

  Rona: Wow! Tell! Tell!

  Isaac: My family was just the three of us. We lived in the jungle. My dad was a huntsman and my mom loved flowers. She wanted to be a florist. When I wasn't hunting, I helped with planting.

  Llyne: Were?

  Rona: Aww~

  Isaac: She died when I was eight. Unknown illness. After that, we moved to the city so I could study. Life was rough. We were poor. So… I turned to hacking. Eventually stabilized us. And now, here I am.

  Llyne: Wow… we've all got our stories, huh.

  Rona: No worry, Isaac! Now you have us. Llyne and me!

  Isaac smiled faintly, nodding.

  [Congratulations. You have completed all 3 topics. Your bond levels are now MAX.]

  The moment the screen flashed, a physical warmth bloomed behind my ribs. It wasn't just a notification. A golden tether snapped into place, anchoring my soul to theirs. For a split second, I didn't just see them. I felt them. I felt the sharp edge of Isaac's protective anger and the humming, simple radiance of Rona's joy. We weren't just three kids in a hole anymore. We were a single unit.

  This feeling... is so weird? Complicated? I don't know how to describe it.

  [Rewards unlocked: Skill Sharing, Inventory Sharing, Stats Swapping.]

  [Note: If a teammate is kicked from the team, these functions will be revoked.]

  Isaac tapped each reward to activate them.

  [Skill Sharing: Teammates can use each other's shared skill once. Shared skills do not consume MP. Duration: 30 seconds.]

  [Inventory Sharing: Team members can share items freely.]

  [Stats Swapping: Teammates may swap one stat with each other. Cooldown applies.]

  A new prompt appeared.

  [Would you like to continue the conversation? Topics remaining: School Life, Ghost Story, Romance Life, No.]

  Before any of us could react, Isaac slammed the 'No' button.

  Rona: Why?

  Isaac: …

  Rona: Ghost story scares you?

  Isaac: …

  Llyne: No romance life?

  Isaac: …

  Llyne: Dark past in school?

  A bead of sweat rolled down Isaac's temple.

  Llyne: Dark. Past. In. School!

  Isaac's fingers usually steady, twitched at every word. He immediately reached for his gun, busying himself with checking the chamber for the third time in a minute.

  Rona: Story! Story!

  Isaac: What do you guys want to know for?! Let's go to the second stage already. Hurry up!

  His voice climbed an octave, a frantic edge slicing through his usual calm. He didn't look up, his fingers fumbling with the safety catch.

  Rona: Nuuuuuuuuu...

  Slower pacing this time. A breather chapter to let the trio’s dynamic breathe before the next dungeon stage. I wanted to show their bond forming naturally through banter (and trauma).

  Feedback welcome as always. Do you prefer these quieter chapters between fights?