Chapter 281: The Dune Dungeon

Solomon lay buried in the dark, suffocating sand, waiting patiently for a few seconds so his newly healed joints and muscles could properly stabilize.

Once the agonizing pain completely vanished, he slowly began to pull himself out of the dune. He struggled to sit up, his bare hands constantly digging deeper into the loose, shifting sand instead of finding solid purchase.

He finally managed to push himself upright, spitting a mouthful of sand onto the dune. He spotted the electric scooter buried a few feet away.

Wondering if the vehicle could somehow still function in the desert, he rushed over and pulled it from the sand, but his hopes were immediately dashed. The scooter’s frame was completely shattered, its mechanical parts scattered all over the dune. Only the rubber tires and the cushioned seat remained in decent condition.

"I wonder if insurance is gonna cover this...." he muttered.

Solomon brushed the sand from his gray hoodie and looked around. He could see nothing but endless, rolling desert dunes stretching as far as his eyes could see.

He cracked his neck, scanning the barren horizon. "Where are all the monsters? How come I always end up in completely desolate, empty wastelands instead of dropping right into the middle of a monster’s nest or a boss room? Isn’t that an ’unlucky’ situation?"

He checked the weapons strapped to his back and waist—the greatsword, the two longswords, the daggers, the hand axe, and the spear and the robe which could have helped him if there was an opportunity.

Thus, he began his long walk into the endless desert.

He reminded himself of the fundamental rules of dungeon clearing. A dungeon could be officially classified as ’cleared’ and stabilized as long as the primary boss monster was killed or the dungeon core was physically destroyed. Once stabilized, the threat of a dungeon break was permanently neutralized.

Other adventuring guilds could then enter the stabilized portal whenever they wanted to clear out the remaining lesser mobs, harvest resources, or utilize the environment as a practical training ground for novice adventurers.

’I wonder if this dungeon is separated into multiple floors, or if it is just one open-world floor,’ Solomon thought to himself, trekking up the side of a massive dune.

Solomon kept walking for the entire day. The scorching sun beat down on his shoulders until it eventually began to set, painting the desert sky in vibrant shades of orange and purple.

Night finally fell over the canyon.

The blistering heat of the desert day rapidly transitioned into a freezing, bone-chilling cold.

Solomon had not eaten a single bite of food or drank a drop of water since entering the dungeon. It wasn’t as though his biological body didn’t need sustenance; he still felt the gnawing ache of hunger and the dry scratch of thirst in his throat. However, his Indefatigable passive ability constantly converted his mounting physical fatigue into fresh energy, forcing his muscles to keep moving despite the severe deprivation.

He let out a tired sigh, staring up at the starry sky. "If I had my owl with me right now, I could have just bought some nutritional pills or a bottle of water from the Stream Shop. The chat would have kept me entertained with their stupid jokes while walking through this endless sandbox. Now, I feel like I am actually going to go mad from the sheer loneliness."

Solomon eventually found a shallow, rocky cave carved into the side of a sandstone cliff and decided to rest there for the night. He wasn’t particularly physically tired, even after walking across the desert for an entire day, but he wanted to rest his body so his Indefatigable ability could recharge its hidden stamina tax. He did not want to rely entirely on his talent to keep his body energetic, fearing a sudden burnout.

He laid down on the cold, hard rock without a single care and closed his eyes. He had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. He could not return to the entry portal, as he had fallen from an impossibly tall cliff with no physical way to climb back up the sheer, crumbling sandstone. And he certainly didn’t enter an S-rank dungeon just to turn around and leave.

He was here to clear it.

’I just wish I would encounter some kind of monster soon to provide some entertainment in this boring expedition,’ Solomon thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, he was violently jolted awake by a loud, rough quake. The entire cavern shook, dust and loose pebbles raining down from the ceiling.

Solomon quickly sat up. He grabbed the weapons, sprinting out of the cave with a wide smile on his face, fully expecting to finally see a monster waiting for him in the moonlight.

However, there was absolutely nothing outside. Just the beautiful, rolling desert dunes illuminated by the pale moon.

He covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "Have I gone insane? Am I having hallucinations now?"

He stared out at the empty sand. "Deserts are known to cause hallucinations. What is that term called again...? Oh right, a mirage. I am probably just suffering from a really bad mirage."

However, that was absolutely not the case, and mirages certainly did not cause physical seismic tremors.

Just as Solomon turned around to head back into the shallow cave, the rumbling occurred again. This time, the tremor felt significantly stronger, vibrating intensely through the soles of his boots.

He waited for a few more seconds. The earthquake hit a third time, stronger than before. Yet, he still could not see a single thing.

There was no monster in sight. But the ground beneath the dunes was visibly shifting, the sand rolling like ocean waves. The feeling was undeniably real.

Solomon gripped his greatsword and waited for another quake. It didn’t happen. He waited and waited, scanning the horizon. The desert became so silent that it almost felt peaceful.

Then, suddenly, the ground directly beneath Solomon’s feet shifted violently. The sand exploded upward as a huge horrifying Sand Centipede erupted from the earth right beneath him.

"THERE IT IS! WELCOME! WELCOME, MY FRIEND!"