12 - Who Disturbs My Treasure?

I’m not a brave person. Never have been. I was never the one to raise my hand first in class when I was a student because I was usually scared of the attention and being laughed at for giving the teacher the wrong answer. Whenever a cute girl walked by, I never had the courage to start a conversation. Even when it came to my wife, Cerise had been the one to start things off. I had never tried skydiving, rock climbing, or any other extreme sport. I don’t know if that made me a coward or not. But the things I’d been through since coming to this world were like nothing I’d ever been through before. Facing down huge monsters was completely unlike me. I had been surprised at myself for the way I’d been acting.

Sneaking past a couple of demi-gods seemed like taking things to a stupid new level. Maybe if it were just the guy the size of an apartment building, I’d say screw it and take my chances because he was chained up. I wondered how many eons he’d been tugging at that chain, trying to free himself. As long as he couldn’t, like, shoot laser beams out of his eyes or something, which, given where I was, was possible, then I’d be ok.

But that “smaller” hybrid, the elf-scorpion, was only smaller in comparison. She was easily twice my height. Unlike the ogre-scorpion hybrid, she had both elven arms and scorpion ones, the latter with pincers easily large enough to cut my body in half without effort. As she scuttled back and forth, presumably caring for her babies, she revealed herself as a magic user when she conjured pieces of…some kind of animal from who knew where and then telekinetically tossed them into the pit for the babies to swarm over.

If that hybrid spotted me, I’d be fuckin’ dead.

If the babies came after me, I’d be dead from a thousand cuts and little bites.

The flash of light came again from the far side of the cavern. I reluctantly looked in that direction. Something about the wall over there seemed unusual, and before I could stop myself from giving in to the intrigue, I was squinting and trying to make out what it was. I couldn’t be sure in the dim blue-green lighting, but it looked like a small section of the far wall wasn’t natural cavern like the rest of this place. It looked like there were stone blocks over there, almost like part of this cavern wall had been peeled away, revealing stonework underneath.

That begged the question: what was it? A building? A dungeon? We were deep underground, and the tunnel to get here had seemed either natural or dug out, but it hadn’t been lined with proper blocks or flooring or anything. Still, no matter how curious it was that something like that was down here, it wasn’t worth risking sneaking past those monsters. …right?

Except for that damned voice in my head. That nagged me to no end. I knew it was taunting me. But was it trying to get me killed? Or did it care either way? Maybe there were just some empty, abandoned ruins over there, and that alone was the secret, and trying to get there would end me. But the system was all about levels and skills, wasn’t it? Did that mean it wanted me to grow? I had chosen the reveal secret ability from a level-up. Did that mean something over there would benefit me?

They say curiosity killed the cat. I haven’t the slightest clue why. It’s a stupid phrase. What it should be is that curiosity killed the foolish, stupid human who takes bad risks. My mind started turning over potential solutions before I could get the heck out of there like a smart person.

In scorpion form, I was pretty sure that I glowed to scorpions the way they glowed to me. Worried about that making me easier to spot, I — almost — turned the transformation off. I figured with the light from the bioluminescent moss, I might be able to crawl around the edge of the cavern in my normal human form. But then I pictured the scene in my mind. I realized that if I wasn’t glowing blue in their vision, then a James-sized black spot would be crawling in front of the moss. Wouldn’t that be worse? Actually, glowing in their vision might be better because I might pass as a weird-looking scorpion. They might leave me alone.

I slid the spear down the back of my robe and got down on all fours so I’d look more like a scorpion. Yeah, that was gonna make it real hard if I had to defend myself, but I was hoping subterfuge was gonna win the day. Very slowly, I crawled away from the weird-ass scorpion family until I got near the opposite side of the cavern. Then I made my way toward the opposite side. I kept a constant eye on the monsters.

At one point, the elf-scorpion hybrid looked up. My movement seemed to have alerted her because she quickly looked around in my direction before settling her unsettling gaze on me.

My body froze in position on my hands and knees. But my heart raced like a steam engine about to explode. I turned my head away and only watched her from the corner of my eye. I even lowered myself to the ground to make me harder to spot because I didn’t look like any regular scorpion.

She raised a hand. A ray of red light seared through the air and touched the ground not two paces from my body. The rock ground instantly heated and sharply cracked like a gunshot.

I jolted, then scrambled forward, doing my best hasty scorpion impression until I was behind another stalagmite. No further attacks came. I listened hard but couldn’t hear anything running in my direction.

When I dared to peek around the stalagmite a few minutes later, the supposed mother demi-god had gone back to her caretaking, ignoring me. Maybe she’d assumed I was one of the grown-up children coming around to feed on the babies, and she’d just wanted to scare me off? Lucky! Hoping that was the case, I crawled all the way to the far end of the cavern, figuring she’d be happy for me to be on my way and not fire another one of the lasers in my direction.

As I arrived at my destination, I studied the wall above. I’d been right, there were worked stone blocks. After checking to make sure I wasn’t being followed and that there were enough stalagmites to block the demi-gods from seeing me, I pulled my spear free and stood. My knees were bruised from crawling, and I was fairly certain the filth on my hands and knees was from centuries of scorpion droppings, but I tried not to worry about it. Quietly and carefully, I investigated the area near the worked stone. The system had alerted me to this area, so there should have been something to uncover.

I crawled up the slippery side of a stalagmite forming right against the wall itself. Something about the shadows at the top of it was strange. When I got to the top, I found a gap in the wall with a steady breeze of very warm air coming through, strong enough to ruffle my clothing. The stalagmite I was hanging from had formed in the middle of a fissure in the wall. In another few centuries, it would completely cover it. But for now, I was able to squeeze through and into the fissure itself.

Dropping into the gap, the stalagmite behind me, I felt safe enough to turn the headlamp on again. The fissure ran like a tunnel, and I picked my way through, one hand on the wall because the floor wasn’t flat, it was split and filled with shattered rock. After a couple of dozen paces, the fissure stopped going through raw stone and went through worked stone, probably a proper wall. Orange light glowed beyond the opening. I paused at the opening and looked out.

I was about to enter another cavern-like space. However, this one was partially worked stone. It looked like someone had built a very large room underground a long time ago, but then an earthquake or pressure from below had caused the ground to shift and crack open. Most of the room had been destroyed, and magma had risen up. The place was now filled with hot red lava. Close to me was a stone staircase going up, but it was filled with rubble. A few skeletons lay about at the foot of the stairs, some in armor. The only thing left of the room’s floor were a few small islands of crumbling stone and rock and a single large island out in the middle of the space.

On the large island was treasure.

My heart skipped a beat. Then it started dancing. I smiled.

I could see a golden throne with a skeleton slouched in it, a crown on its head. A deceased monarch? The island was ringed with dilapidated shelving and bookcases, half of their contents cast on the ground during upheavals to the room. There was also a chest. A large chest. A really big fucking chest, like way bigger than a steamer trunk. It was wood and banded with iron, and the whole thing glowed with purple light while golden motes floated out of the ground all around it.

I breathed, “Holy shit.” Maybe I was about to get my OP isekai start after all. Because that looked like a shit-ton of magic and items and if it wasn’t cursed… “Fuck me.”

I didn’t hesitate. A quick look around, and I didn’t see a single sign of scorpions or anything else. Grinning like an idiot, I hustled forward. The lava was blistering hot, but nothing was going to keep me from getting to that island out in the middle. I had to see what was on it, what that chest held. I mean, who doesn’t like large chests?

At the edge of the lava, I hesitated and checked out the ground and the first island in front of me. Hoping it would hold me and I wasn’t about to plunge to a fiery and painful death, I took a running jump and sailed through the air. Thanks to my enhanced body and higher stats…I jumped too far. I felt a stab of panic as I nearly jumped clean over the island. But my feet touched down and I immediately threw myself into another jump, going with the momentum rather than fighting it. I safely landed on the next island.

I stopped there, doubling over to breathe. What a rush. I laughed. I was flirting with death and it was an insane feeling. No wonder some people jumped from planes and stuff. Buoyed by my success, I leaped to the next island and then the next. My new strength and speed were amazing. No way I coulda done that as my regular self. At last, with one gut-clenching super leap, I landed on the very edge of the large island. I tumbled, rolled, and sprang to my feet.

I’d arrived.

I took stock and looked around. The shelves that still had items were overflowing. There were some weapons of various kinds, many with fat jewels. There were wands, what I guessed were mage rods and orbs, staffs, and various armour and accessories. Many pieces glowed with faint light. “They’re magical.” I shook myself. This was almost too good to be true. I looked at a bookshelf and saw hundreds of tomes, a pile of more on the floor. Picking one up, I could somehow understand some of the words, but there were plenty of symbols and things that were beyond me. “Spellbooks?” I placed it back down on the pile so I could continue to explore.

The throne was tall and heavy. The figure on the golden chair was slouched to the side, elbow on the armrest, one hand under his chin like he was just resting there, maybe taking a nap. Perhaps he’d peacefully died in his sleep. His crown was gaudy as all hell with tons of jewels. Every finger, his wrists, his ankles, and his neck were adorned with more jewelry. It all looked pristine, and I suspected they were all magical. His robes too. They were dark red with black designs and looked as if they’d just come out of the wash despite the dust and debris covering every other surface. I laughed. “Those will make a nice upgrade.” The robes I’d gotten off the dead lizard were disgusting. Self-cleaning clothing would be really handy.

At last, I turned to the glowing chest. The floor had fallen away right behind it. It felt like, at any moment, the chest was going to plunge into the lava. My fingers itched to open the chest. I needed to see inside. But I wasn’t stupid. That glowing light had to mean the thing was trapped, right? Well, there wasn’t much I could do about that. I was alone in the desert with a limited food supply. If I was going to survive, I needed to take risks. I extended my spear toward the front of the chest. I’d just see if it was even locked. Maybe all these purple and gold lights were just for show. I paused. Worried something might shoot out from the lock or something, I moved to the side of the chest. Extending the spear while standing outside the magical lights, I poked the lid and tried to push it open.

The lid gave a little.

I waited. But nothing else happened. Grinning with anticipation, I pushed harder on the lid.

The lid opened wider, closed some, then opened again. Then the whole chest twitched. Then it shook like a dog waking up.

My jaw fell open. What the heck was happening?

Then the lid exploded open.

I leaped back.

A fat tongue at least three meters long rolled out of the chest, the lid now lined with triangular teeth. Eyes the size of dinner plates opened in the back of the lid, searching for prey.

Fuck me, it was a giant mimic.

It’s eyes locked on me. I swear it smiled. That’s when things got worse.

The dead guy on the throne shifted. Pinpoint green light appeared in its eye sockets. The skeleton lifted its head, all attention on me, and in a raspy voice that rumbled and filled the entire chamber until it rattled my own bones and turned all my previous excitement to terror, he spoke, “Whooo distuuurbs my treasure?”