Bully Lord

Part-195

As soon as he stepped through the door, it slammed shut behind him with a loud thud, sending a jolt of panic through his body. He instinctively whirled around, only to find the door sealed tight, trapping him inside. His heart raced, and he quickly turned to face whatever challenge awaited him.

What he saw made his stomach drop.

The cavernous room before him was filled with ratlings—over 20 of them. They were small, vicious, and moving with unsettling speed. Their red, gleaming eyes were fixated on him, their teeth bared in anticipation. The low growl of the creatures reverberated through the cave, sending a shiver down his spine.

James immediately realized the gravity of his mistake. This was no isolated fight against a single ratling. This was an ambush. He was outnumbered, and despite the sign’s warning, he had walked straight into it.

Before he could react, the ratlings swarmed him.

With a sharp inhale, James raised his arms in defense, swinging his fists and trying to dodge their relentless attacks. His enhanced stats gave him an edge, and he managed to land a few solid blows, but it wasn’t enough. The sheer number of ratlings overwhelmed him quickly. Claws scraped against his skin, and their teeth sank into his arms and legs as he fought to stay upright.

James kicked one ratling away, only for two more to leap at him from behind. He spun, swinging a loose stone he had grabbed off the ground, knocking a few of them back. But no matter how hard he fought, the ratlings kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless. Panic set in as he realized he was losing this fight.

His movements became sluggish, exhaustion creeping in as the creatures gnawed at his stamina. His vision blurred, and his muscles screamed in protest. One particularly vicious ratling sunk its teeth into his shoulder, and the pain was too much. James stumbled, his body collapsing to the cold, hard cave floor.

The last thing he remembered was the sight of the ratlings swarming him from all sides before his world went black.

---

When James regained consciousness, he found himself lying on the ground. For a moment, disorientation flooded his mind. His head throbbed, and his body ached from the wounds inflicted by the ratlings. Slowly, he sat up, blinking as his vision adjusted. He was no longer in the midsection surrounded by ratlings. Instead, he found himself at the entrance to Level 1, right where he had started.

"What the…?" James muttered under his breath, still trying to piece together what had happened. The familiar notification sound chimed in his mind.

[Raid Failed: Defeated by Ratling Swarm. Restart at the entrance.]

He let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. So, the dungeon had reset him, putting him back at the entrance after his failure. It seemed that the Lamp of Time’s dungeon didn’t just let you fail and walk away. It reset progress, forcing him to start from scratch until he succeeded. The realization made him grit his teeth in determination. He wasn’t about to let a swarm of ratlings defeat him.

But there was something else that gnawed at him—his own carelessness. The sign had warned him, and he had ignored it, overconfident in his abilities. He’d underestimated the difficulty of the dungeon and paid the price for it.