Chương 34: Structural Integrity Check

Recap: You escaped the guards into a smuggler cavern. Cultists are climbing up to your ledge. You voted to DESTROY THE LEDGE (SABOTAGE). I'm a box. I'm not a wrecking ball. But I am a hundred-and-twenty-pound iron-reinforced box with a strength stat higher than most college students after finals week. The lead cultist was ten feet away. His fingers dug into the handholds. He looked up. He saw me. He saw a chest sitting on the edge of a crumbling stone precipice.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"That's the—" Sorry, I thought. Renovation day. I shifted my weight. I didn't move away. I moved down. I pressed my base against the weakest point of the ledge—a hairline fracture I'd felt with my tremorsense earlier. I engaged my Strength stat. I pushed. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION Skill Used: Structural Sabotage (Improvised) Cost: 4 Stamina Current SP: 7/22 Strength Check: 7 vs DC 5 Result: Success CRACK. The sound was like a gunshot in the cavern. The stone beneath the cultists' hands shattered.

The ledge didn't just break; it disintegrated.

"Whoa—!" Three figures plummeted. They screamed. They flailed. They hit the cavern floor ten feet below with a wet thud. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I stayed put. My teeth had anchored into the stone wall behind me. My iron bands gripped the rough surface. I was the only thing on the ledge that wasn't falling. Below, the chaos was immediate. Two of them didn't get up. Broken necks. Lucky them. The third one—the leader with the staff—groaned. He was trying to stand.

His leg was bent at a weird angle.

"Traitor!" he screamed up at me.

"You… box… demon!" Demon? I'm a Mimic. There's a difference. Demons have horns. I have hinges. He raised his staff. A green spark ignited at the tip. Magic. I was exposed. Still on the ledge. He had a clear shot. But he was wounded. And below him… lay the bodies of his friends. And their gear. I saw steel. Swords. Daggers. Metal buckles. I saw organic matter. Flesh. Blood. I saw cages. People inside them were waking up. Watching. If I fought the mage, I might win. But I was at 10 HP. One magic bolt could finish me.

If I looted, I'd be stronger. But slower. If I freed the prisoners… allies? Burden? The mage's staff glowed brighter. He was charging a spell. Current Stats (Level 2 - Ironband Mimic): HP: 10/17 (Unchanged) Mana: 6/12 (Undead Flesh Penalty Active) Stamina: 7/22 (Sabotage cost) Inventory: 2 Pebbles, Metal Items (Fused). Status: High Ground, Mage Charging Spell, Prisoners Watching. What do you do? A) SLAM DOWN (FINISH HIM) Jump off the ledge. Slam onto the mage while he's charging. Interrupt the spell.

Finish the job. (Cost: 5 SP (Slam). Gain: Kill Mage, Loot Access. Risk: Fall Damage, Surrounded if others arrive.) B) LOOT THE BODIES (GEAR) Ignore the mage for now. Slide down safely (not slam). Eat the gear of the dead cultists. Gain metal/weight. (Cost: 2 SP. Gain: Metal Items, Weight Increase. Risk: Mage shoots you while looting.) C) FREE THE PRISONERS (ALLIES) Slide to the cages. Break the locks (Strength 7). Use them as meat shields against the mage. (Cost: 3 SP. Gain: Distraction, Potential Allies. Risk: They might attack you too.) D) FLEE THE CAVERN (RETREAT) The noise attracted attention. More cultists might come. Leave the mage. Find the exit. (Cost: 3 SP. Gain: Safety. Risk: Leave loot/XP behind.) VOTING CLOSES IN 24 HOURS. Reply with A, B, C, or D. Most votes wins. [Author Note] Thanks for voting on Chapter 33! Option D (Sabotage) was brutal! You dropped the cultists but the Mage survived. You're on high ground but low on stamina!