[Reading Student Credentials]

[Credentials Verified]

[Dungeon Instance: Shadow over Innsmouth. Team Composition: Lin Zhong (Second-Year Student), Charlotte Flore de Jeanmard (Second-Year Student)]

[Instance Entrance: Room 1035]

The screen flickered. With a series of thunderous *clanks*, the crimson-and-black stone gate slowly parted.

Beyond the cube-like entrance stretched a straight corridor. Unlike other dungeon hallways built from countless grid cells, this passage held only S-rank instance doors.

Charlotte’s small hand gripped the hem of Lin Zhong’s coat as she followed him inside. The corridor looked no different from lower-tier ones.

But he knew better. Behind each door lurked horrors beyond imagination. He’d seen them before—back in his first year, trailing a teacher.

Room 1035.

The four glowing numerals stood out starkly against the dark red door.

“We’re here.”

Lin Zhong pressed his palm against the stone. Yet he felt a tiny hand clutching his clothes, holding him back.

“Mmph…”

“Coming?”

He pushed the door open anyway. No matter how hard Charlotte pulled, it was useless.

“Requesting entry.”

Lin Zhong seized Charlotte’s wrist and strode inside. She stumbled after him, the stone gate sealing shut behind them with a *thud*.

[Verifying Team Composition]

[Lin Zhong (Verified), Charlotte Flore de Jeanmard (Verified)]

*BANG!*

The door’s slam made Charlotte flinch like a startled sparrow.

[Loading Dungeon Instance]

[Weapon Generation: Snowfall Thousand Chills — Complete.]

As the system’s tone faded, a dark red stone coffin materialized in the empty chamber.

[Identity Confirmed. Weapon Tier: Exclusive. Owner: Lin Zhong.]

Lin Zhong tapped the coffin. Its surface cracked open, icy mist seeping through the widening fissures.

The cold made Charlotte tighten her coat. But her eyes locked onto the War Spear resting inside.

Nearly two meters long, the spear seemed carved from glacial ice. Delicate golden light pulsed within its core.

[Weapon Generation: Knight’s Long Sword — Complete.]

A plain knight’s longsword thudded into the floor before Charlotte.

*Awkward.*

That was all she could think. Her cheeks burned as she stared at her shoes.

No comparison, no pain.

Weapons were every student’s lifeline. The highest tier—Exclusive—was bestowed by the system itself. Everything else could be forged by ordinary smiths.

And Charlotte’s sword? The lowest tier: Common.

Lin Zhong drew Snowfall Thousand Chills from its coffin. The freezing aura made Charlotte shiver.

“Draw your sword?”

Lin Zhong tilted his head. A Common weapon was pitiful, but not worth his concern.

Charlotte just kept her gaze down, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.

“Y-yes…”

Her whisper barely reached him.

She yanked the longsword from the floor. It looked absurdly oversized in her petite frame.

[Dungeon Instance: Shadow over Innsmouth — Ready.]

The crimson stone walls shifted. The chamber transformed—wooden planks replaced stone, rain lashed against the windows, and a flickering lightbulb cast jumpy shadows.

*THUD-THUD!*

Lin Zhong spun toward the flimsy wooden door. A silhouette pounded against it. Through the crack, a bulging, unblinking eyeball stared straight at him.

[DUNGEON START!]

The door burst open.

Lin Zhong lunged out, War Spear raised, leaving Charlotte alone in the trembling room.

..........

*Drip… drip… drip…*

The sound closed in from all sides. Where emptiness had been, figures now crowded around Charlotte. The quiet fishing village drowned in rain and the guttural, rasping cries of *things*.

Charlotte’s lovely face had gone deathly pale. Lin Zhong—gone. Now she understood the Monsters haunting this place.

The creatures surrounding her defied humanity. Twisted hybrids of man, frog, and fish.

Slick green-gray skin. Pale bellies. Scaly ridges along hunched backs. Vaguely human shapes topped with fish-like heads. Worst of all: those huge, lidless eyes and gills fluttering wetly at their throats.

They advanced. Their hulking forms dwarfed Charlotte’s slender frame.

She gripped her Long Sword. To the Monsters, it looked like a child’s toy. To Charlotte, it felt like a joke.

Their *hissing* scraped against her ears.

Her bright jade eyes had lost their spark. Her small hands trembled, the sword nearly slipping from her grasp.

*Was I wrong? Should I never have come?*

The thought echoed. Only the Monsters’ rasping cries answered.

“H-help me…”