The Mad Rat's Lab

"We all know this will be hard, but don't give up. Let's do our best to get enough points today!" Says A-Dawg after the teleportation light fades away. "Remember: notify the rest of the team as soon as you detect something unusual. Also, keep in mind this is a game. Fear is our worst enemy."

Nononani, Bubbles, and I anxiously look at each other. I want to shake my head in denial… It's useless, I won't achieve anything with it.

I always thought that knowing information about the dungeon we're going to is a boon. Poor me, how innocent I was… Now, I understand that isn't necessarily the case. What's known can't be unknown, and I'd rather forget what I know than spend all this Dungeon Invasion afraid of the dangers I know.

Undead, demons, cosmic horrors, and monstrosities all together, in an extremely dangerous and terrifying mix designed to crush our minds rather than our bodies.

"Brrrr!" My whole body shivers, recalling what's ahead.

No wonder they chose such a name. The League of Evil… If it were any other team, I'd say it's lame, but with the combination of those four factions and the dangers inside, I don't dare say it. It fits them so well.

A-Dawg approaches and pats my shoulder. "Alright, Wilsie. As always, you're the first."

I freeze, recalling our usual formation. As the tank, I almost always go first. 'Noooo! Anything but that! I'm too scared!', I scream internally.

Perhaps because of my glazed eyes and lack of movement, A-Dawg shakes his head.

"Fine… I'll do it. But be ready to step in at the minimum danger."

I quickly recover and nod my head, tears about to come out. "Yes! T-thank you, leader. I love you!"

"Haha, it's nothing. Then, you'll take the back. Bubbles and Nononani are too fragile to risk an ambush on them."

I freeze again. Did A-Dawg trick me into filling the most dangerous position? He doesn't care if a frail lady, wearing full plate armor and a shield as big as her, is put into danger, does he?

But it isn't as bad as it sounds. If I die ambushed from the back, at least I won't see the attacker.

"...Fine."

After my reluctant agreement, Nononani and Bubbles send me a pitying look.

I don't need your pity! If you pity me, why don't you take my place!? But as soon as they notice my thoughts, they awkwardly look away, faking a cough.

Tsk. No luck there. Don't blame me later if I make a mistake and we all die!

A-Dawg starts walking, and we follow after him. As we already knew, the first zone is a donut-shaped island. There's no path forward displayed in the map, so there must be a portal or teleport array somewhere. Our first objective is to find it.

As we move, I warily look around. From the knowledge we have, there are several kinds of hidden enemies on this island. Zombies and skeletons, buried in the ground. There are dangers in the mysterious purple water, too, and that's why we stay as close to the center of the donut as we can. Furthermore, there are other monsters we couldn't identify at first glance, hybrids from the Flesh Monstrosities, and the most dangerous of them all, the demon called…

"Meteors!"

At Nononani's sudden shout, we all look up at the sky. Three large meteors are falling in our general direction. It isn't guaranteed they'll fall near us, but we must take precautions anyway, as we can't fully predict their paths, and taking a hit is a big no-no.

Field effects are difficult to use, especially high-damage output ones like the Meteor Field, but all the monsters are hidden or buried underground, so the only ones at real risk are us.

Bubbles raises her hand. "Let's hide under those rocks. They should block the impact."

We all agree with her idea, running towards the closest rock cluster. This island isn't flat. The dark, reddish sand creates large dunes, and there are multiple rock formations everywhere. This makes it easier to hide from the falling meteors, but at the same time, it makes it harder to find the exit. It also provides easy hiding places for the monsters.

A-Dawg, Bubbles, and Nononami rush forward, leaving me, the slowest member, slightly behind. As much as I run, I won't be able to catch up; my Champion's speed is too low.

"Wilsie, you can do it!" "Go, go, go!" "You're almost here!" They cheer me while hiding below a rock protrusion.

I look up and immediately regret it. One of the three meteors is right above me, falling scarily fast. It's a large ball of fire and molten rock, burning everything in its path…

"Hyaaaah! I'm going to dieeeee!" It feels so real that I involuntarily shout.

Raising my shield to cover my whole body, I close my eyes and run. I can feel the heat on my skin, and the light burning through my closed eyelids!

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"Aaah, save m– !?"

Suddenly, I hear an explosion right behind me, shaking the ground. When the shockwave reaches me, it makes me stumble, and I end up fumbling forward until I smack my head into the hard rock. My awkward running position wasn't good for stability.

I check for damage, but there's none. The shockwave didn't have much force, just enough to make me trip and fall.

"...why is it always me?" I feel like crying.

I stand up, rubbing my nose, realizing my teammates are sending pitying gazes in my direction. They watch my every action with their lips slightly tilted upwards.

"Don't laugh, it isn't funny…"

"Nobody's laughing." A-Dawg intervenes and steps out of the rock's shadow. "Now that the meteors have fallen, we should speed up. Who knows when more will fall?"

It isn't long after the meteor incident that the first fight takes place. As usual, Bubbles is the first to notice the attack.

"Arrows! It's the skeleton archers!"

"I'm on it!" Without time to waste, I raise my shield to protect my teammates. They hide behind me. I activate the Shield skill just as the first arrow touches my shield, and a translucent blue film appears, blocking the arrow barrage.

The arrows land on the Shield skill one after the other, producing metallic noises. Just two seconds later, the arrows stop, and the film dissolves into thin air.

"Where are the skeletons?" I ask. I need to know where the attacks are coming from to protect my teammates from future attacks.

Bubbles points to my right, towards the purple sea. "They're on the sea."

'On the sea?' Land units have difficulties moving and attacking while submerged. It's even worse when they're right on the edge of the water, or if they use projectile weapons, both of which apply to the skeletons. '...Do they float or something like that?'

Filled with curiosity, I turn towards the skeletons. They aren't floating! They're riding Skeleton Fishes!

*Tu-tuu!*

One of the skeletons, the single one not wielding a bow, blows a trumpet, and the remaining twenty or so skeletons immediately release another arrow barrage at us, which I block by using Shield.

A-Dawg takes action as soon as the protective film disappears. "I'll attack them. Wilsie, you keep us safe."

"I'm already on it," I say.

Our team leader starts channeling a spell, but as soon as the skeleton with the trumpet sees it, it blows the trumpet once more. With a *Tu-turu-tuuuu!*, the whole group dives down into the sea, disappearing from our view.

"Shit! They ran away." A-Dawg says, canceling the spell.

Bubbles tilts her head. "But isn't the sea poisonous? Won't they die like that?"

"Do you think the skeletons care about poison?" Nononani shakes his head in disbelief, "They have the Bone Body innate skill, remember?"

"Ah! You're right!" I forgot, too.

Since the fight has ended, I try to go back to the back, returning to my position, but my right foot doesn't budge.

I lower my sight, and as expected, there's a partially rotted hand grabbing me. Then, the ground next to it rises, and something rounder, covered by messy, entangled hair, starts to emerge…

"Aaaah! A zombie!" Not wanting to see any more, I smash my shield down, bursting open the zombie's head.

"Wheeew…" I wipe my forehead after checking that the zombie is indeed dead, "...I'm safe." I ignore everyone's awkward eyes and defend myself. "What? If you kill them while they're buried, it's easier."

As usual, it's A-Dawg the one to break the awkward silence. "No, it isn't that. It's just… the way you reacted to it…"

The ground starts to shake. From all around us, hands raise into the air, followed by their owners.

"More zombies! An ambush!" I shout, slamming my shield again and again against the ground. "Aaaaaah, we're all going to dieeee! Protect me!"

"You're the tank!" A-Dawg argues back. "You're the one who should protect us."

"It doesn't apply to scary stuff!"

Right then, an arrow flies through our ranks, missing us completely and instead killing a zombie that survived my attacks. The zombie makes one last groan before, like magic, a green light, the size of a firefly, appears on the zombie's forehead. The light soon flies away, towards the nearby rocks.

We follow the light with our eyes, instinctively feeling that whatever's going on is more dangerous than the zombies. The light stops in front of a green-skinned humanoid with two tiny horns on his head, one in front of the other, like a lizard's crest.

The demon grins, knowing we're watching him. He waves the crossbow to say 'hello' and then 'eats' the light.

It's the Skull Collector!" A-Dawg immediately identifies the demon, "Don't let him deal the finishing blow! We're doomed if that demon absorbs the stats from our enemies!"

This 'Skull Collector' is just the first of a few named monsters that this dungeon's creators added. There are at least two more we know of, called 'The Surprise' and 'The Mountain'.

"Tsk!" Nononani clicks his tongue. "First, the skeletons. Then, the zombies and Skull Collector. Why all at the same time? We're just missing the meteo–"

"More meteors!" Bubbles suddenly shouts.

While I raise my sight to the sky, alarmed by the incoming meteors, I see another arrow embed itself in a zombie's head. And, as if our situation wasn't dangerous enough, I hear the sound of not one but two trumpets.

*Tu-tuu!* *Tut-tu-tuu!*

"Aaaaah! We're all going to dieeeeee!"