Chapter 22: Zombies
Fin ran through the city, his new suit getting soaked with sweat. He'd asked for directions at the Guild, and now headed north as fast as he could.
"Stupid," he muttered to himself. "One chance to prove yourself and you blow it."
The city thinned out around him, buildings giving way to open countryside. His lungs burned, but he kept pushing. According to the Guild member, the dungeon had appeared in the hills just beyond the northern farms.
After an hour of running, he spotted it—a dark crack in the hillside, surrounded by trampled grass and boot prints. The entrance wasn't impressive, just a narrow opening in the rock, but the air around it felt wrong somehow.
He stopped to catch his breath, hands on his knees. The Guild team had a head start of hours. They could be deep inside by now.
"Should've checked my phone," he grumbled, straightening up. "Should've been here."
He approached the entrance slowly, scanning the area. No one was around—no Guild members, no monsters, nothing. Just silence and that strange feeling in the air.
He took a deep breath, pulled his new dagger from his belt, and stepped into the darkness.
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Not far from the dungeon entrance, hidden among a cluster of rocks on a higher ridge, three figures watched Fin disappear inside.
"Who the hell was that?" asked a man with a scar across his nose. He wore a leather jacket with metal spikes on the shoulders, his hair shaved on one side.