Struggling to Survive in Hell Difficulty

Chapter 67.

[Do you want to enter Instance Dungeon: Secret Shelter?]

[Warning. It is recommended to enter the Instance Dungeon as a party]

[Enter Anyway] [No]

As I looked at the system notification, terrible thoughts and assumptions crossed my mind.

Be-Li had spawned countless monsters in an attempt to murder the Adventurers or Players. I had not seen any casualties from the NPC side aside from the people in the Mayor's house, but I had assumed that he would not try to attack any people living in Proteus haphazardly because it was part of the game's design.

[Having sensed the precarious predicament of his summoned minions, Be-Li decided to change his strategy. Instead of continuing with his monster summoning, Be-Li switched his focus to the Adventurers themselves who had been a stumbling block for his plan. He will now pinpoint the one who seemed to be the strongest, the most capable and strategically adept among the lot]

After all, that was what was written in the Quest Description from the Unique Quest. I also thought this was the same reason why Be-Li did not try to attack me who was still Level 16 when there are other people who had higher Levels than me, including the Adventurers I had saved earlier.

...but what if all these assumptions had been wrong? What if the monsters were indeed focused on attacking the Adventurers, but Be-Li himself had a different agenda? What would happen if he could proceed with whatever his goal was by killing not just Adventurers, but also NPCs hiding inside the buildings?

"...does this mean..."

"I'm afraid that the people hiding in here.................."

Muriel's words suddenly cut off, even though she was flapping her mouth open and close. It was the same phenomenon that I had seen before, the restriction from the system that prevented me from receiving spoilers and excessive help from Muriel.

...yet exactly because of this, the negative assumptions in my mind became much bigger and more chaotic than before.

"...in any case, it is obvious what the right thing to do is."

I turned to the system message that still hovered in front of me and reached out to the obvious option. And when I chose the option, I could feel my consciousness getting pulled into the depths of the descending stairs.

"Wait, you should..."

I could hear Muriel's voice trailing off until I could no longer hear her properly, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. Thinking that I could just ask her when I landed inside the Instance Dungeon, I kept my eyes shut as I waited for the system to appear within my vision.

[Entering Instance Dungeon: Secret Shelter]

[You have gone out of the effective range of the Altar of Poverty]

And it did not take long for that to happen.

When my feet landed on a flat surface, I opened my eyes... and still could not see anything. I tried to illuminate my surroundings using [Fireball], but not a single orb of fire appeared as I wanted it to be.

[You are inside a Safe Zone. No Offensive Spell can be activated]

"...huh."

I was not expecting to read that, but I did not have to worry for long. I calmly took out the torch... or rather, the 'burning wood' from my Inventory and used it to illuminate my surroundings.