The Infinity Dungeon [LitRPG]

Michael drifted in the empty space, watching the ruin of what had been the foundation of all his power grow smaller and smaller. All that he had built was gone, replaced by chaos itself.

Complex emotions fought for dominance. He understood that it had not been the System and its red lines making him unstable, at the very least. Grasping at the empty space and finding no purchase, he realized that he could only work on his own emotions because everything else–even though it was supposed to be his own inner space–was out of his grasp. He was like a tiny speck of dust, drifting, aimless.

After a long time, he felt the roiling emotions begin to lose their energy. One could not be angry forever. As the anger faded, a profound sense of loss threatened to push him into depression. He could not even contact Icarus, lost as he was in the vast empty space of the shell of his soul.

Depression came and went, and all that was left was apathy. The determination to roll up his sleeves and get to work, like an anime protagonist spending ages fixing the damage in his soul one painstaking step after the other, evaporated like water in the desert before the unshakable fact that no matter the will, Michael could not do anything.

He had no power over himself.

Then something changed. Hope blossomed.

Then it was crushed when he was unceremoniously thrown back into the real world, kicked out of his own Sanctum or what was left of it.

He felt cold and empty. Scared, for the first time in so long, because he knew that his magic had left him. His body was still tough, although not as tough as it had been, but that was it.

"Michael?" a voice spoke in his ear.

The reassuring weight of Icarus settled over him like a warm blanket. He cried, then vented to his AI, who patiently listened and offered reassurance. Then he was back to feeling empty. Empty like the void he felt where once his Sanctum had been. Hope died again and again when he felt the cloud of orbiting debris fall into the nova at the center of the void, which stretched everywhere, and be swallowed up. Then the void itself folded and disappeared, winking out of existence.

All that was left was the nova. Michael hoped again, and again he was punished for it. The nova blinked, and then there was nothing. No Sanctum, no inner space, no feeling from anywhere whatsoever.

Michael stood, alone in the empty fourth room of the dungeon, staring at its empty walls. He tried to call for the Dungeon Gaze, hoping that it would help him like it did when it created a challenge to save both David and Liff, but nothing happened.

He sat on the stone floor, feeling the cold seep into his bones from the wet wall against his back. His body was back to being human, fully and utterly mundane. All he had was Icarus, who could only offer words of support and listen, but eventually Michael ran out of things to say.

He felt hungry and weak.

The two doors at the end of the room seemed to stare at him. One leading to the Valley, the other back to Site 00. What would happen when he walked out there without a shred of power? How would the organization he had built, with his own personal power as the foundation for everything, react to the sudden disappearance of its support pillar?

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It would be the true test of loyalty. Going out would show Michael who, out of the many prominent figures within Unity Corporation, truly deserved his trust.

It would also be dangerous. Michael wasn't sure he was ready to bear the risk.

At the same time, he did not know what would happen if he descended into the Valley either. The sigil granting him power over the Fae had been in his Sanctum like everything else, although there was a chance that the dungeon would step in to ensure he still had what he rightfully earned.

Both doors led to uncertainty.

Michael paced around, feeling the hunger bite at him and the cold sap him of strength. In the end, having to choose between trusting dungeon monsters and trusting the human beings he had surrounded himself with in the real world, he chose the latter.

With slow, heavy steps, he walked towards the door leading out. Feeling his chest constrict, he let the warmth of the sun caress his skin. It was good to be out.

It felt disorienting. He felt out of place. Without his skills enhancing his senses, the world felt muted. Every little leaf, every stone, and every tree hid their secrets from him. Things could jump out of the shadows and kill him without him being any the wiser.

The trek back to Site 00 was daunting and tiring, and he arrived there covered in sweat. It was sweltering hot. He had not realized, but this summer was particularly hot, and he wondered if this was how the lower-ranked Operators and the mundanes always felt. He had never noticed.

Johanne was the first to find him. She had been alerted by Icarus, and immediately she cast her magic on him to relieve him of all burdens she could alleviate. She escorted him like a guard, back to the lab, eyeing everyone with suspicion, magic at the ready, alert. She would not let anyone get close to them.

The way was clear, Icarus had made sure of it. There was still the occasional person, but she rudely sent them all away.

At the lab, she carefully had Michael sit on a sofa that had not been there the last time. She closed the heavy steel door shut, activating the sealing magical script that cut the room off from the rest of the world.

Only then did she truly look at Michael, a single tear rolling down her face. "My lord…"

She shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"We will fix this," she said, "We will fix this, I swear to you. We will fix this."

She was a flurry of activity. She typed furiously at her computers, retrieved things and devices, even the Divining Rod, which she used on Michael repeatedly, then consulted notes, books she had written, debated with Icarus, went back to her computers, left the room for minutes on end, and then returned, pacing around, muttering under her breath, grabbing her hair and fidgeting with her lab coat.

Michael watched her like he was watching a movie of his life rather than actually living it. His ears were ringing and his head was light, the shock of reality settling over him as he sat still as a statue on the uncomfortable sofa.

Someone knocked on the door. Johanne looked at the security feed and cursed. She opened the door, letting both David and Travis inside, then quickly sealed it shut again.

Michael felt the whole room lock down as what he presumed–but could not feel–was an inordinate amount of Space and Time elements flooded the space. It was like being submerged in molasses, and he couldn't breathe. It was only after Johanne looked at him struggle to even exist that her eyes widened and she frantically adjusted her magic that he managed to breathe again.

He gasped for air, while the distant sound of shouting barely made it past the ringing in his ears. It was like things were happening to him rather than him living through them.

"What the fuck?" Travis yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Do NOT ready your magic or I will kill you," Johanne said with venom in her voice, teeth showing and body coiled like a feline baring her fangs.

"What the fuck is going on?"

The magic around Travis constricted, compressing his body.

"Do as she says," David said.

Travis struggled for a few seconds before relenting. "Fine, fine, you crazy woman."

"Johanne," David said, struggling to compose his face, "what is going on and why is Michael sitting there like this?"

"More importantly," Travis cut in, straightening his clothes, "why can't we feel his aura?"

She told them. Michael watched in silence.