Trapped in a Dungeon with the Boss Monster

Then Evie cannot hope for the raiding team’s help.

How could they enter a gate that was closed, vanishing from sight?

‘Could it be that until now, the Second Gate occurring in dungeons below D-level has never been reported… because the gate itself is closed and passes unnoticed?’

Evie dropped her head into her shaking hands.

Moreover, the forced termination of the system service…The status window and system hunters gained upon awakening were the source of their power.

Without that system, hunters would be nothing more than ordinary humans.

Then what chance was there for an ordinary human like Evie to survive here? Even as an E-rank hunter, her chance was already 0%.

‘It’s over. I’m going to die here.’

The tears that had stopped thanks to [Calmness] started flowing again.

Muffled sobs leaked out her lips.

“G-garhhh!”

“Fuck…what the…ah, when, when, c-cough…”

“——!”

Evie gasped for breath.

The sounds of flesh tearing and blood splattering felt as if right beside her ear.

The dying breaths of those who had raided the dungeon with her 10 minutes ago resonated vividly.

Evie hunched her body even more.

She covered her ears and tightly shut her eyes.

People were screaming in agony as they met horrific deaths.

“You bastard! Are you fucking using me as bait?!”

“Gck- die, will you just die already?!”

“Shit! Steel shield! Charge…!”

“I- Iyaaak! Kyeok!”

The horrifying chaos outside quickly subsided, astonishingly fast.

It was never a fair fight to begin with. D, E, and F rank hunters against an A-level dungeon’s boss monster.

Even enduring for a few seconds was an enormous feat.

“Ah, don’t come, don’t come! Ahhh…!”

Even the leader, who uttered a few words in a trembling voice, let out a final agonized scream. The monster exhaled deeply and muttered as if in ecstasy.

“Haah… Red is indeed beautiful.”

“Sto… stop it…”

Evie tightened her grip on the hands covering her ears. Though they had intended to use her as bait, she didn’t want them to die like that. Nor did she want to hear their dying voices any longer.

The monster laughed eerily.

And then the sound of butchery followed. Evie simply hoped that the leader’s breath would be cut off instantly.

The prolonged noise of rending flesh suddenly stopped.

The monster muttered to itself.

“Oh, this won’t do. I need to do research. Test subjects are precious. I’m so worried.”

Tapping on the wall, it slowly approached the room Evie was hiding in. Besides holding her breath, there was nothing Evie could do.

A few seconds passed, and the door to Evie’s hiding place emitted a squeaking sound.

The monster deliberately opened the already ajar door further.

“It’s been so long since I dissected something.

Head first or chest first? Oh, yes! I’ll preserve it as a specimen once I’m done.”

Glass shards crunched under the monster’s feet.

Placing a hand on Evie’s hiding desk, it spoke in a low voice.

“Where could you be hiding? The smallest one.”

Creak—

The old desk struggled as the monster leaned in. When the creaking subsided, Evie mustered her courage, slowly straightened her hunched body, and sneakily opened her tightly shut eyes.

That moment. The monster’s head suddenly dropped down.

“There  you are.”

“……!”

Evie froze in place. Her limbs shook madly. The only noise coming from her throat was a choking sound.

The monster grinned widely, pulling its torn lips up, and grabbed Evie’s ankle, dragging her out from under the desk.

Under the dim fluorescent lights, the monster’s appearance was revealed.

Its body was gigantic, reaching the ceiling, and the bandages wrapped around its eyes were soaked red. Its white coat was drenched in blood, appearing nearly dark crimson, and the muscles beneath were hugely bulged as if about to burst.

Its neck bore numerous visible needle marks.

The monster with bluish skin dragged Evie outside by her ankle, its torn lips curled up to its cheeks.

“Aaah! No, no…!”

Desperately resisting being pulled, Evie clawed the floor with her fingernails.

Her nails broke against sharp debris. Her clothes and skin tore and scraped, but pain wasn’t the concern at hand.

Evie was on the verge of being ripped apart by the mad monster.

“Let go! Let go, you bastard…!”

Struggling with all her strength, she writhed and scraped the floor, bursting into tears like a child.

Her face had long been stained with tears. Evie cried pitifully, suddenly inhaled sharply, and squeezed her eyes shut.

The corpses of her party members were strewn across the hallway. Each one looked utterly tragic. Among them, those whose throats had been slit seemed relatively intact.

Though she didn’t vomit, the acrid bile rose dangerously in her throat.

Exhausted, Evie could only weakly be dragged without resisting further with her nails.

Soon, she would become no different from them.

No, perhaps her state would become even more gruesome.

Evie wondered if now was the time to bite her tongue off.

“We’ve arrived.”

The monster dragged Evie to a spacious room that looked like a lab. 

Only this room had full power.

Bright fluorescent lights illuminated the space, letting Evie see its details.

On one side of the lab were preserved specimens of unknown organisms floating in transparent liquid, and in the middle were several operating tables.

Around them laid various surgical tools that Evie did not wish to know the uses.

“Come now, up you go.”

The monster tenderly placed Evie on the operating table, laying her down and restraining her wrists and ankles with short shackles. Evie bit her lip, trying not to cry.

She silently wished it would kill her without pain.

The monster hummed while rummaging through the surgical tools.

“What should I use? Hmm, I need to cut you nicely for the specimen.”

It was then.

In Evie’s teary vision, a system window appeared, accompanied by congratulatory sound effects despite the situation.