Say Goodbye

“See, this door is definitely trapped!” Taku beamed over the fact as he tapped at the pressure plate in front of Teri and Yayoi with his stick. “You know, I’ve been thinking this entire time if I was being paranoid since I’ve been checking everything like an idiot.” Taku wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Apparently, SOME things are trapped. This is nice.”

“Yeah. This is very dangerous. Truly, who would have known?” Yayoi said with a dead, dragged tone. “It would’ve been terrible if it was activated by mistake, no?”

Teri wiped off some imaginary tears at the thought of his newfound friends. Yes, he felt comfortable calling them that. He wouldn’t let them know though.

They were about to murder each other about half an hour earlier.

Yayoi tried to deny her otaku allegations, going as far as to tell Taku that she was going to shred him like cheese. Taku laughed. He would’ve won if he said nothing, but he slipped and called her a basic bitch—also a cheat because she was just copying her favorite anime moves. Yayoi responded, calling Taku’s inability to perform a skill issue.

It was a heartfelt moment.

Teri had to close his eyes with a relaxed smile. He planned to zone out and concentrate, but he was forced to step in when they started throwing hands at each other.

Looking back at that not-so-distant and pleasant memory, Teri could tell that everyone had gotten stronger. He wouldn’t go as far as to dare speak for their group, but it seemed that everyone was itching for a fight. For the first time ever since they woke up in this shithole of a dungeon, the corridors felt less unnerving.

It was as if it forgot to let them know that its halls and rooms smelled of blood, ink, and flesh. With Taku and Yayoi around, it felt like Teri could finally find the thought of exploring dungeons fun.

And so, they continued their journey. They followed through with their decision to avoid exploring further north and decided to take the door on the southern side of the starting area.

Teri took the lead as usual. Taku followed him closely, poking at anything and everything along the stone-cold corridors stained with ikemen graffiti—which now seemed more like a testament of bad taste instead of surreal beings that existed to spite him. Yayoi, on the other hand, watched their backs.

The path led them further south, had them go through a considerable distance eastward, and then north where they were at this moment, the place where Taku encountered his first trapped door.

“This would’ve definitely killed someone, yeah,” Taku continued with a blinding, innocent smile. “You see, some people find traps unfair. A lot call them unnecessary, especially when it comes to dungeons.”

Yayoi rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because they’re dead—”

“Exactly!” Taku pressed his sheer positive vibes against Yayoi. “Sure, it offers nothing. If you’re unlucky, it punishes you for relaxing or having too much fun exploring. But that’s the beauty of it. It’s indiscriminate! Yes, it can kill you—either with a minor inconvenience, a slow painful death, or an instant trip to heaven. It may as well be the bane of your existence, but it is also a tool that lets you look cool in front of your people. So, if the dungeon is weird, its traps may very well be the same and should be a constant thing.

“Seriously…”

Teri stepped in, smiling at Yayoi. “Means you gotta think about nothing else and immerse yourself in the dungeon. Once you do, it’s going to be fun soon enough. I think that’s what Taku is getting at. It’s definitely hard though.”

“MEaNS YoU goTtA tHiNK NOthIng eLSE anD iMMerse yoURSelf IN the DuNGeON.” Yayoi scoffed. “ONcE YOU Do, iT’s going to Be fUN sOoN enOugh.”

Teri kept his grin as he moved over the pressure plate; he took a few more steps to position himself by the room’s entrance. He raised his shield. “Are we good?”

“Yep. The door itself isn’t trapped either.” Taku readied his staff and pressed his back against the wall at their side. He asked Yayoi to do the same. “We didn’t step on the pressure plate. Assuming that doing so is necessary to trigger the trap, nothing should activate. But the fun thing is, I can be wrong. We should at least be wary of something like a spear or spikes shooting out the moment we open this door.”

“Fun… huh?” Yayoi said as she hid behind Taku’s shadow. She glanced at their backs, doing a final check if there were enemies lurking behind them, and clapped Taku’s shoulder. “We’re good.”

Teri pushed the door inward. He didn’t hear any clicks. There were no moans either. What welcomed them was the sweet scent of candles and burnt paper.

Taku nodded at Teri. He inched closer to the door and extended his stick to check for traps—there were none at the room’s entrance or nearby. It was likely the mechanism needed someone to unknowingly step on the pressure plate and open the door. It was that or the door needed to be closed once they were inside.

Taku glanced at Yayoi and held up one finger to Teri.

That was the signal.

Teri smiled and stepped inside the room, his stance low with his shield raised and bar mace ready. When he was about five steps in, the other two followed him with Taku making sure to keep the door open.

With the air as silent and as still as it would ever be, it was hard for them to notice the smell of burnt meat and bone lingering around them.

“So…” Yayoi sighed, her breath leading to a chuckle as she covered her mouth. “Is this a slow painful death or an instant one?”

“Yoooo…” Taku grimaced, finding it within himself to laugh a moment later. “I’m hoping that it’s the instant one.”

Teri breathed through his mouth.

The room was the usual. Four paper-like, stone walls surrounded them. The lower part of the walls were blackened with smoke and ash, becoming darker the nearer it was to the floor. Above them was a high and glowing pink ceiling that occasionally drizzles them with torn sheets of paper like snow.

The main attraction, however, were six bodies on the ground, burnt to their bones.

“Let’s move along as fast as we can.” Taku clapped to break the silence and pointed them to the door at the northern side of the room. “I’ll go check it for traps.”

“Right,” Teri replied. “I’ll see if I can move the bodies to the side. Maybe they have some stuff we can still use.”

Yayoi pointed to herself. “What do I do?”

“Please make sure we don’t get stabbed in the back,” Taku said as he tapped around the door. “That’s plenty enough. You can also look around if you want.”

Teri grabbed the hand of a dead body and was surprised that only its arm went with him. He groaned, realizing that the best way was to pick the bodies apart limb by limb like sticks. It was then he caught Yayoi’s worried gaze.

“You can help me if you want—”

“I’ll watch the corridor and make sure you guys don’t get stabbed in the back.” Yayoi turned away, her voice a bit strained. “Actually, I’ll go check the floor too. Maybe there are some items that these people dropped. We’ll take them, right?”

“Right,” Teri said and went back to his honest work.

Not a minute later, Yayoi told them to be careful when she spotted some small pipes on the floor. Keeping that in mind Teri spent the next few minutes, with Taku’s help, relocating the bodies into a corner.

Teri offered them his prayer, wishing them well—for their souls to return to where it truly belongs—and for them to wish them forward as they clear this dungeon. He thought about who these people could be, what kind of lives they led, and what kind of stuff ran through their mind, knowing that they were going to die again in this dungeon. The thought twisted his heart, but his smile didn’t fade, for a part of him was glad he was alive right now.

“Six adults.” Teri glanced at Yayoi before looking back at the pile of bones. “They’re likely from early to mid twenties, maybe even older.”

“I see,” Yayoi replied as she kept her eyes on the corridor. “Thank you… Teri.”

Teri smiled back at her, knowing that she wouldn’t see it.

“Wait, and since when were you an expert on human bones?” Taku muttered, grinning as he bowed twice, clapped three times, and bowed one more time to finish his prayer. “I think we’re good to go. The northern door is trapped; the mechanism is probably tied to me opening it. And considering that the wall around us is somewhat warm, it’s probably the thing that set the whole room on fire.”

“I used my eyes, Taku,” Teri joked, nudging Taku’s shoulder. He felt a bit of satisfaction knowing that Taku found him funny. “But seriously… Judging by their legs, I think most of them are as tall or taller than us. So, they’re adults.”

“Is that your tender way of calling me short?” Yayoi asked as she moved to Teri’s side. She offered her prayers the same way Taku did.

“Nah.” Teri replied as soon as she finished. “You’d know. Also, Taku—” Teri showed them the loot he salvaged from the bodies: some metal plates, probably the remains of a burnt-out plated glove or boot; a helm caked with soot; a handful of arrowheads; and four throwing daggers, their hilts also burt away.

Taku cupped his chin. “I can probably do something with them, yeah. We can definitely give the throwing daggers to Yayoi for good measure. Dunno about the arrowheads tho.”

“And also, I got something special for you two.” Yayoi raised her voice, trying to mimic Taku’s energy, though it was pale in comparison. “Taaaaaddaaaaaaa!” She flashed them a proud smile as she held up a black metallic ring in between her fingers. “It tells me that it’s maaaagic.”