The tangle of bodies separated amidst muffled groans and complaints.

  Renji got back on his feet as quickly as possible, pushing away a hand clutching at his t-shirt. He had fallen with Aiko and, surprisingly, Daichi. The pale young man was trembling like a leaf.

  The panic of the stampede slowly subsided as the rest of the group emerged from the narrow passage. Their eyes blinked, adjusting to the dim, sinister light of the new area.

  They were in a huge cavern. The ceiling was so high it disappeared into darkness, much like the starting room. But this was not an empty space. Strange, gnarled trees grew here. Their dark trunks glistened as if constantly wet. They grew on spongy ground covered with a thick layer of dead leaves. Their bare branches rose high, draped with hanging vines.

  The only light came from a phosphorescent moss covering the trunks and patches of the ground. It cast a faint, sickly gray-green glow.

  The air was heavy, still. The smell of damp earth and reptile from the tunnel lingered, even stronger here. In the distance, Renji thought he heard the faint, regular lapping of water.

  Cautious relief spread among some members of the group. They were out of the crushing tunnel. But the strange, deadly beauty of the place offered no comfort. An unnatural underground forest.

  “Where… where are we now?”

  Asked Misaki, her voice still weak. She helped Aiko up, casting a worried glance at her wrist.

  “Floor 1, I imagine.”

  Replied Junichi. His eyes were already scanning the surroundings, analyzing everything.

  “The question is, where do we go?”

  Behind them, the passage remained a dark, silent archway. The wall that had pushed them seemed motionless.

  Trapped here, then? No way back through there.

  Ahead, the space opened up. But what immediately caught their eye was not the forest itself, but what stood in the center of the underground clearing where they had entered.

  A door.

  Immense. At least thirty feet high, fifteen feet wide. It seemed carved from obsidian, a stone as black and smooth as night. It contrasted sharply with the rougher rock of the cavern.

  Its surface was engraved with complex and disturbing patterns: grimacing faces with long serpentine necks, women with evil smiles, swirls of black smoke. It was clearly related to Japanese folklore, as Aiko might have guessed. A feeling of cold, ancient power emanated from the door. Renji shivered involuntarily.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  An artificial structure in a 'natural' environment. The main objective, undoubtedly. But is it the only path?

  On either side of this giant door, two smaller paths led into the phosphorescent forest. One went left, the other right. Barely visible trails snaked between the gnarled trees before quickly disappearing into the greenish gloom.

  “Three options…”

  Renji murmured to himself. The central door or the side paths.

  The group instinctively moved closer to the black door, drawn and repelled by its massive presence.

  “Look! There’s an inscription!”

  Exclaimed Aiko, using her small flashlight again.

  She was right. In the center of the door, at eye level, strange letters floated just above the black stone. They glowed with a blood-red light. The writing was bizarre, but they could read it, as if the words were imprinted directly onto their minds.

  BOSS DOOR - FLOOR 1

  Guardian: Rokurokubi, the Smiling Nightmare

  Recommended Level: 5

  Attempts Remaining: 3 / 3

  A dead silence followed this revelation. The implications crashed down in the stagnant air. Level. Yokai Guardian. Limited attempts. A game, confirmed. A deadly game. Faces froze, horror evident in wide eyes. Daichi looked ready to faint. Even Kenta’s usually smirking face was pale. The silence stretched for several seconds, heavy and suffocating, broken only by Daichi’s ragged, gasping breaths.

  It was Takeshi who broke the petrified silence. His face, previously just panicked, was now a mask of absolute terror and denial.

  “NO!”

  He screamed, his voice breaking with pure panic.

  “IT’S FAKE! THIS IS ALL FAKE! IT’S NOT REAL! I REFUSE! I WANT TO GO HOME!”

  He covered his ears, shaking his head frantically, his eyes rolling wildly.

  “IT’S A DREAM! A HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE!”

  He seemed completely on the verge of breaking down. Misaki cautiously took a step towards him, trying to calm him, but he pushed her away violently.

  “LEAVE ME ALONE!”

  And suddenly, with a strength born of absolute desperation, he did something insane. Ignoring the implicit warnings on the door, convinced that this was all unreal and the door was just a hidden exit from the "hoax," he turned his back on the group and ran. Straight towards the obsidian door.

  The group froze for a second, stunned.

  “No! Stop him!”

  Cried Aiko.

  “Idiot!”

  Roared Kenta, more angry at the stupidity than actually worried.

  Goro lunged forward to intercept him. Renji started to move too, as did Kenta. But Renji hesitated for a fraction of a second, his mind calculating the risk.

  Risky to jump in front of him... could be dangerous if he fights back...

  That micro-hesitation was enough. Goro and Kenta, though reacting quickly, were simply too slow. Takeshi, fueled by pure panic.

  With a hoarse, barely human cry, Takeshi slammed into the smooth, black surface of the boss door.

  Against all expectations, despite its immense size and ancient aura, the massive door offered no resistance. It simply pivoted silently inward the moment Takeshi pushed against it with all his panicked strength, revealing a glimpse of absolute darkness within, a void so deep it seemed to swallow the faint light of the cavern. Total silence emanated from the opening. Takeshi stumbled across the threshold and disappeared into the blackness.

  The instant he vanished, an invisible force slammed into the remaining nine. It wasn't a physical blow, but an irresistible suction, a violent pull originating from the open doorway. Renji felt his feet leave the ground, the phosphorescent trees blurring around him as he was pulled helplessly towards the void. Cries of shock and terror erupted from the group, cut short as one by one, they were drawn inexorably through the obsidian portal, tumbling uncontrollably into the nightmare awaiting them inside.