A Person with Morals gets Transported to Another World [LitRPG] [Satire]

Penrin complained about the progress we were losing by backtracking, but she wasn’t disgruntled enough to try to change my mind. We hadn’t chalked any markers down at intersections, so I relied on my map menu to take us back. Though, I really had no need to. We took dozens of turns and twists on our way through the dungeon, yet still I could clearly remember the exact route back to the start.

However, I instead followed a shorter path that I learned by unlocking the entirety of the first floor. That decision wound up cutting down our travel time by a quarter of an hour. We finally reached explored territory again, denoted by the arrows chalked onto the floor.

“Are you sure this is the correct way?” asked Newmill. He pointed at an arrow on the ground. “This is telling us to go in the opposite direction.”

I compared the arrow to my map menu. It was pointing the opposite way it should have. “Either someone made a mistake or is pulling a possibly lethal prank by chalking down the wrong direction.” It was worrying to see, and I wondered if I didn’t have the map menu, would we have fallen prey to it?

Penrin smudged the chalk with her foot. “This is why you can’t trust others. Anyone with brains should be using their own markers rather than relying on what strangers have placed.”

I pulled out my own chalk and corrected the arrow direction. I didn’t know how useful these markers were for others, but if there was even a small chance it would help someone, then there was no reason not to.

Eventually, we all made it to the room that the map menu marker pointed to. There wasn’t much inside. The three of us analysed each inch of the small room to find the secret passage. I instructed Penrin to examine the floor, and for Newmill to shoot fireballs at the ceiling, while I checked the walls.

None of us were able to discover anything in particular. I reverted back to an earlier strategy and unpocketed my pocket telescope. With a quick scan of the room, I was able to see three things: Newmill, Penrin, and a small square of bricks in the corner.

I went closer to the stone bricks, but they were indistinguishable from the rest of the wall. Pushing against them did nothing. I placed my wall compass against the bricks, and it did not point to them. Instead, it either pointed to the leftwards or rightwards.

“This wall is fake,” I said. A flame fell from above onto my shoulder and burned me a little.

[-1 HP]

“Will you stop it with the fireballs?” I shouted at Newmill.

“Huh? But you told me to…” He saw me crouched by the corner and pulled Penrin over.

I told the two, “This is the dungeon’s secret. The only problem is that I don’t know how to get in.”

“Didn’t any of the books give you a clue?” asked Penrin.

I shook my head. “They only told me the location.” The three of us tried all we could to get in. Penrin kicked, Newmill fireballed, and I blinked at it. We weren’t making any progress.

I consolidated all the information we had learned so far. This was a dungeon secret, the telescope considered it worth looking at, the wall compass did not consider it to be a wall, it was immune to physical attacks, immune to fire, and immune to my staring.

I said, “If this thing was made magically, it’s not a conjuration. Otherwise, it would be considered a wall.” I had basic knowledge of the arcane, so I knew that much. “It could be an illusion.” A regular illusion would have faded the moment it was attacked. But that would only be the case if it was a materialised illusion.

If instead, someone had cast an illusion spell on the three of us, we would never be able to figure out the trick. However, no one was around to cast a spell like that.

Newmill said, “I think you’re thinking about this the wrong way, Yarm. This is a creation by the dungeon. The secret won’t necessarily be magic related.”

The prince had a point there. Was the dungeon capable of creating a wall that was simultaneously not a wall? It wasn’t like my wall compass knew what the dungeon was plotting, so there was definitely something materially wrong about the wall.

I looked around the room. It was still empty, apart from the torches on the wall. “Hmm. I’ve got an idea but it’s a long shot.” I went up to one of the torches. “We know that spot is something important, due to the telescope.”

“Right.” Newmill nodded.

“And we also know that it’s not really a wall, due to the compass.”

“Right.” Penrin nodded.

“Well, what if it only exists while illuminated?” I suggested.

Newmill and Penrin tilted their heads and wondered, “What makes you think that?”

“The telescope can perceive it, but the compass can’t. Doesn’t that suggest there’s a visual component to the secret?”

The two were somewhat convinced by that reasoning. I also only somewhat believed that it would work, but it was worth a try. With a trickle of water and a cloth, I put out the torches one by one. When I got to the last one, I asked my comrades if they were ready before putting it out.

When I extinguished the final flame, I felt a shift in the room’s atmosphere. There was faint light that shone in the corridor, but the room itself was pitch black.

“You were right, Yarm!” said Newmill who was crouched by the secret with Penrin. “The wall isn’t here anymore and there’s a tunnel.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Penrin will lead the way, and we’ll crawl through the tunnel behind her.” I walked over to the two of them.

“Are you insane?” said Newmill. “We can’t do that.” His voice was clearly flustered.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Yeah, why not?” said Penrin. Her voice was surprisingly calm and rational despite the complete darkness. “I’m the strongest and I have the most HP. Doesn’t it make sense for me to go first?”

“Have some modesty, Penrin!” said Newmill. “You need to have greater awareness of your own body. It’s not right for you to go first.”

I was pretty sure that Penrin was just as confused as I was. “I still don’t understand,” I said.

“Do I have to spell it out?” Newmill sighed. “Penrin is wearing a skirt. If she goes first, we might see her panties.” He stuttered on his last word.

There was a long silence. I pinched the bridge of my nose and massaged it gently. “Newmill, I ask this with the utmost sincerity. Did you get hit with the senseless smoke?”

“No,” he said softly.

“Then what are you talking about? It’s pitch black in here! You’re not seeing anyone’s panties.” I spoke rapidly but sternly.

“It’s not about whether I can see or not,” he replied. “It’s about the principle!”

“What principle? Actually, never mind.” I didn’t want to argue in this suffocating darkness any longer, so I said, “Alright, you go first Mr Chivalry. Penrin will go second and I’ll go last.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Penrin. Her tone was clearly exasperated by the absurdity of what Newmill had said.

At the corner, I waited for Newmill to shuffle through the newly opened tunnel. Then, Penrin went in. I got on my hands and knees and started my own crawl. When I entered the crawlspace, I felt a cold breeze coming from behind. It was chilly enough to make me shiver.

“Have you made it to the end yet, chivalrous prince?” I asked.

“Not yet.” Newmill’s voice was much further away than expected. I almost didn’t hear it. Just how long was this tunnel, I wondered? I was feeling a little claustrophobia, because the tunnel was so tight that one couldn’t turn around.

I got a little worried that the tunnel might stretch on for miles. If we went on too long, would we get stuck and be unable to crawl out? I suddenly recalled all those news stories about the deaths of cave divers, people who went into tight spaces like this one and never returned. Paranoia came over me. I wondered if we were about to join their number.

My throat was getting dry, but I managed to ask, “Do you two think we should turn back? Isn’t this tunnel a little too long?”

I didn’t hear a response. In fact, I no longer heard Newmill or Penrin at all. The sounds of them shuffling through the tunnel were completely gone.

“Penrin? Newmill?” My voice echoed. The temperature was dropping. I could feel my icy breath. If there was light, I was sure I’d see my breathing creating clouds of cold.

I tried crawling faster, not wanting to be left behind. “Where are you two? Wait for me.” I could’ve sworn I was speaking, but I couldn’t hear my own voice anymore. I crawled even faster, but now my body wasn’t making a sound either. I was frantically dragging myself forwards, but no noise came from me at all.

I knew I wasn’t deaf. I could hear the breeze from behind. And I could also hear whispering. “Newmill? Penrin? Is that you two?” I asked but my voice wasn’t working. The whispers were gaining in volume, and I realised that they weren’t coming from ahead. They came from behind.

I didn’t dare turn back. I couldn’t. I was sure that if I did, it was over for me. I had to keep crawling. If I made it to the end of the tunnel, I would be safe. That was my only hope.

I moved violently forwards. My knees and arms were getting bruised from my frantic movements but the terror of what lurked behind drove me on. The whispers became clear enough for me to hear individual voices. There was a man and several children all speaking. I still wasn’t able to hear what exactly they were saying, but even if I could, my mind was too focused on getting away to pay any attention.

The man’s voice was the clearest. I heard him over all the others. I screamed out for my comrades, “Newmill! Penrin!” There was no response to my soundless cries. I was getting too worn out from the screaming and crawling. I had to catch my breath, but it was so difficult due to the cold. My body refused to listen any longer and slowed to a stop.

For the first time, I understood what the man was saying. “Get out. Get out. Get out.” He was directly behind me. A cold hand wrapped around my calf. It was no longer possible for me to try and escape. I turned around and saw a face. It was just like the one from the book. A twisted face contorted in agony.

With no options left, I covered my head and scrunched my body into a ball, like a child. I prayed that I would magically be saved and this nightmare would end.

“Yarm? Are you alright?” said a girly voice.

“Huh?” I opened my eyes and saw Penrin in front of me. She was facing me.

“You weren’t coming through so I came back to look for you.” She had a torch in her hand which illuminated the tunnel.

I looked behind myself and saw that there was nothing from the way I came. The whispers and the face had gone. I turned back to Penrin. At that moment, she resembled an angel to me. “Thank you so much! I love you! You’re the greatest friend anyone could ask for.” I burst into tears and hugged her.

“Hey stop it! It’s too cramped in here for this.” She dug her hand into my cheek to push me away. “You know I don’t like this sentimental stuff. What are you even crying about anyway?”

It took some time for Penrin to finally calm me down a little. She reverse-crawled out of the tunnel along with me. Penrin then said that she and Newmill were waiting for a while. The tunnel was only 30 metres long, so they made it to the end quickly. Apparently, all that crawling that I thought I was doing, did not occur. Neither did all that screaming and shouting.

I couldn’t quite grasp what had happened. That wasn’t magic, was it? Were there ghosts in this world? What would have happened if Penrin didn’t come back for me?

I was no longer cold but my body was still shaking. Noticing this, Penrin placed her hand atop my head and patted me.

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