Chương 9: The Mysterious Cave

I reached the cave, minutes to spare. I hadn't expected there would be any more trouble. My eyes widened as I looked up. It was huge. A boulder size of a car. My pulse hammered against my ribs. I found myself in a position where I had to make yet another again. If I chose to stay outside, and boulder sealed the entrance. I wouldn't be able to enter and penalty would trigger. And if I went inside, the cave entrance would be sealed either way, meaning I'll be trapped. Time was ticking.

TIME REMAINING: 00: 01: 03 No other choice; the boulder was falling from that height. I ran. Chose to go inside, even though I knew that I wouldn't be able to leave. The boulder crashed behind me and collapsed, sealing the entrance. THUD. The vibration of it, made me fall to the ground. The air was dusty. It went inside my lungs. I coughed. Waving dust away, from my eyes. I barely made it, just by inches.

A flicker Text appeared QUEST COMPLETED: CLIFF CLIMB DESTINATION REACHED: CLIFF CAVE LEVEL UP: LEVEL 15 EXPERIENCE POINT: +10 (TOTAL EXPERIENCE POINTS: 30)"About time." I breathed heavily...

"I gained two levels huh…. Great, maybe I can unlock 'immortality' next." Honestly at this point I don't care about levelling up. I am just glad that I made it somehow… That climb took everything out of me… and scar I still had to find a way for her. The display changed. STATS LOG STRENGTH: 10 AGILITY: 10 INTELLIGENCE: 10 DEXTERITY: 10 VITALITY: 10 PERCEPTION: 11 HEALTH POINTS: 1500 (AVAILABLE POINTS TO REEDEM: 2 POINT) I stared at the numbers. Two points available, what should I upgrade?

Last time I upgraded perception and it saved my life multiple times. During the ledge crossing, I saw a thin crack on that cliff. If I hadn't noticed it, I would have been dead by now. And this boulder that just collapsed… it came from the height that I wouldn't have seen with naked eye. Perception saved me again. I could just focus on perception that would help me sense danger better. But I can't just rely on it forever, and sensing danger won't protect me from it. Like that time, chopping down that tree.

I wished I had more strength. Or if I had more agility I could've climbed the cliff faster. Vitality could increase my stamina… I gotta be more careful here. I can't upgrade random stats. Hmm… what's the best choice here. I got it!

"This works." PERCEPTION + 1 INTELLIGENCE + 1 Suddenly, The Log opened. A display appeared. It left me speechless, made my chest pound. YOU HAVE UNLOCKED A NEW LOG. MYSTERY LOG That was the first time I saw a new log appeared. But why now of all time. MYSTERY LOG: QUEST: PROVE YOUR MIGHT THERE LIES A PATH BEYOND YOU THAT GUIDES YOU TO THE HIGHLANDS. ONE LEADS TO POISON, ONE LEADS TO FIRE, ONE LEADS TO SAFETY CHOOSE WISELY. TIME REMAINING: 00: 00: 60 A countdown appeared, already ticking.

My stomach dropped, one minute — only one. Poison, Fire, Safety. How do I know which is which. 00: 54 I looked at the paths. Completely identical, there was no difference. There has to be a clue… But where. My eyes were looking around everywhere, eagerly searching. I scanned every part, the walls, the ceiling, the path. Even when I use perception, I couldn't tell which path was right either, but then I noticed. There were symbol carved on the floor, I would have missed it without my perception.

Symbol 1: A triangle. Symbol 2: A circle. Symbol 3: A triangle but inverted. 00: 42"Wait what do this mean!" My mind raced. The shortage of time made me lose focus. But I calmed myself. I breathed.

"Phew… No pressure, this is my life now. I'm totally fine." Come on, think Nova. What are these symbols, what does it mean? A triangle could mean an arrow pointing towards that direction, does that mean it's safe… But why inverted one though, it can't mean go back? And what about this circle… this doesn't make sense. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. 00: 30 Think Nova! There is something here… what can it be.

It feels too simple to go in pointed direction, too obvious. This is definitely some kind of misdirection… but what if it isn't. 00: 23 Come on what's the pattern here. Think. Think. Think. My head started sweating. It blurred my vision. I wiped it with my arms. 00: 18 I thought harder, faster. The symbols meant something deep; it had to be. 00: 12 Suddenly it clicked. 00: 09 That was the only pattern, that I could have come up with. 00: 07 I had only few seconds, no more time to think. It had to be right.

00: 05 What if I am wrong? What if I am overthinking it? 00: 03 No I have to trust my gut. This is my life on the line. 00: 02 I ran and jumped into the cave. 00: 00 Behind me the spikes appeared out of nowhere. It slammed down from the ceiling, crushing the ground.

"Holy Shit!" I backed away.

"Seriously this place wants me dead." If I hadn't chosen a path, I would've died anyway. Hopefully the path I chose was right, nothing happened so far. I chose the path two, it was safe. The triangle on path one meant it was pointing upward, it didn't meant that the path one, was safe it meant the path one was fire. When fire spreads it, goes upward in high flames. The triangle which was inverted meant it was pointing downward. Since the poison gas is denser, the gas had stayed down.

And that would leave me with path two, the circle. The circle meant balance, since the air always is balanced. The path two was the right option. I gasped in relief. INVENTORY: UNLOCKED (YOU CAN NOW STORE YOUR ITEMS IN THE INVENTORY)"Huh.. inventory." The Log showed the display of boxes. So I can store anything in the inventory, without having to carry it with me. I put my bag and gears in the inventory.

"Woah…. This is awesome. What is this some kind of magic?" My shoulder were bit stiffed, I grabbed my shoulder and rotated my arm. I feel a lot lighter now, at least your rewards aren't bad as your penalty. I thought it was over. But it popped again. MYSTERY LOG: QUEST: PROVE YOUR MIGHT CHALLENGE 1: COMPLETED THERE LIES A PATH BEYOND YOU THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO SAFETY, YOU MUST CLEAR EACH PATH ONE BY ONE. TWO OF THEM ARE SAFE, THREE OF THEM HAS ODORLESS GAS AND WILL SUFFOCATE YOU TO DEATH.

THREE OXYGEN MASK HAVE BEEN ADDED IN YOUR INVENTORY, IT WILL ONLY WORK FOR ONE MINUTE. THE LEAF WILL GUIDE YOU. CHOOSE WISELY. TIME REMAINING UNTIL ACTIVATION: 00: 02: 00 I froze. I hadn't expected that, It was only the first challenge. How many more were there? I breathed deep. Calming myself. The masks were added in my inventory. So I can only use three of them from my inventory, and there are four more paths ahead of me. The odorless gas will suffocate me and it will be activated within two minutes.

I have to think, is this path safe or not. The only clue I have is this leaf. There must be another clue around here… I looked around desperately, spending one minute to find another clue. But there was nothing there, the only thing that was here. Is this leaf. 00: 57 The leaf would guide me… What does that even mean? Leaves are generally considered good; it represents life… does that mean it's safe? No that feels to simple. There is something that I am missing here…

00: 24 What can it be, think Nova or you are dead… 00: 16 Leaf… Leaf… there has to be something. 00: 10 I got it! I quickly opened my inventory. 00: 06 Grabbed an oxygen mask and wore it on my face. I hope I am right about this. 00: 01 00: 00 THE GAS ACTIVATED: 00: 01: 00 The walls appeared with nozzles. The gas began to fill inside cave, I couldn't see the gas, but I could see nozzles spraying. I could hear the sound of faint hiss, I breathed heavily, My breath forming a covered layer of steam on the mask.

I could hear the sound of my own breath, breathing heavily. And looking around eagerly. I was right about it, the leaf doesn't represented life here, at least not in this cave. Plants and tree need sunlight to grow… but here in this cave there is no sunlight. So every life here in this cave would mean death. One minute went by I survived the first challenge… I removed the mask. The display changed. GO IN NEXT CAVE TIME REMAINING: 00: 10" Oh… Fuck!" I could still die if I don't leave this cave under 10 seconds.

I sprinted as fast as I could. The cave ahead of me, its door was sliding down, closing.

"No… no, no, no." 00: 06 I was still too far. 00: 04 the gap was shrinking by each second. I pushed harder. 00: 02 I dove. Sliding across the ground and rolling over to the other side. The door slammed shut behind me.

"I made it… huh." I exhaled. Breathing heavily, I stood up and the log appeared. THE STONE WILL GUIDE YOU. CHOOSE WISELY. TIME REMAINING UNTIL ACTIVATION: 00: 02: 00 There was a huge rock ahead of me. I walked there, looking at it closely. Searching for something. Yet again, there was nothing inside the cave. No carving, no symbols. Nothing Just the stone I looked around again, checking if I missed something. Still nothing. I don't see any other clue here just this stone…. What could this mean.

00: 32 The rock here is heavy. A thought came to my mind — does that mean the gas here could be heavy as well? 00: 21 There might be better a clue, it can't be that simple, can it? 00: 13 Think. 00: 10 Think. 00: 08 Then, It struck me. Wait, am I right about this? This has to be right. 00: 01 00: 00 I chose to not wear the mask. Hoping that I am right about it. But I froze as the wall appeared revealing nozzles. I covered my nose and held my breath. Am I wrong about it? THE GAS ACTIVATED: 00: 01: 00 I waited.

I don't see any of the gas coming out. Doubts rushed in my mind, Was I wrong before? Was I wrong now? What will happened to me now? 00: 52 I thought the stone was steady and didn't move. I thought about the stone properties. Something that is rigid in tough conditions, I thought there was some pattern to each of these puzzles. Was I wrong about this pattern? 00: 31 I held my breath. Waiting for time to pass by. 00: 18 I can't hold any longer… 00: 07 My lungs burned. I could hear the sound of heartbeat in my ears.

I gasped. and inhaled, it was instinct… Nothing happened. I thought I would die, but somehow I didn't. 00: 05 The cave was safe. It was breathable.

"I was right." A ray of hope came back to me. Maybe I could survive this. Maybe I could escape from here. I went by the door of next cave, Confident. 00: 00 GO IN NEXT CAVE TIME REMAINING: 00: 10 The cave opened and I walked inside. But this time the cave was different. I can hear the sound of footstep, which were shallow. SPLASH. SPLASH. SPLASH. The cave was filled water. THE WATER WILL GUIDE YOU. CHOOSE WISELY. TIME REMAINING UNTIL ACTIVATION: 00: 02: 00 This time the clue was this shallow water.

It was clear to me that there were no other clues besides what the log has mentioned. Water… This shallow, barely touching my ankles. 01: 22 Water is usually formed by oxygen molecules and based on previous two clues the pattern should be properties… And water means H2O meaning it has oxygen in it… 00: 42 It has to be safe as well. But why this shallow water? How is it here, the cave surface could absorb water easily… and yet somehow the water is still here, Untouched.

Is there another clue here, maybe another pattern? 00: 25 Is this cave somehow different from the other caves…. If I am wrong about this pattern I could die. 00: 20 What can it be? The water…. The surface… Wait… there is another pattern here. If I think about it, that pattern tells me that this cave would have odorless gas. 00: 06 But do I follow the earlier pattern or this one. I can't risk it when I have my doubts… I took the mask from the inventory and wore it.

00: 00 The wall appeared again, with nozzle spraying gas. THE GAS ACTIVATED: 00: 01: 00 I hope I am right about this… the next cave would definitely tell me if I am right or wrong. A minute passed by. The cave door opened. GO IN NEXT CAVE TIME REMAINING: 00: 10 I walked in the next cave, There was no water. But instead there was fire torches attached on the wall. THE FLAME WILL GUIDE YOU. CHOOSE WISELY. TIME REMAINING UNTIL ACTIVATION: 00: 02: 00 The time started ticking,"So… its flame now."

I muttered I stared at the fire. The fire is highly flammable to gases, means it could kill me. 01: 43 In the cave behind me, I though water can absorb the gas I thought there was another pattern, which was — how elements reacted to the gas. 01: 24 But something doesn't add up… if the flame would react to the gas, it will make this place inferno. And it means I will be burned to the crisp. 01: 06 Even oxygen mask could not protect me from the flames. So it can't be that. What else can it be…

00: 56 wait the flame can only keep up when there is oxygen in the air. 00: 47 I think I am right about this… there is no way the gas is flammable, the mask doesn't make sense? 00: 24 This cave is safe meaning next one is dangerous. I waited patiently, looking as the timer ticking down. I was confident with my decision, the pattern made perfect sense. 00: 04 I held in my breath and covered my mouth just to be safe. 00: 00 The walls appeared and nozzle started spraying gas. THE GAS ACTIVATED: 00: 01: 00 No…

this can't be. I thought… My eyes widened and jaw tightened. Everything inside me went numb. I was wrong about this cave.