Chapter 256: What is Happening???

It was the same as it had always been: an oval of pulsing, silver-green light, suspended in the void like a tiny, captured star. The energy radiating from it was warm, almost comforting, a stark contrast to the cold emptiness around it.

The fifth Bunny Girl.

She had been forming for... he didn’t know how long. Days? Weeks? Time was still meaningless here. But she hadn’t emerged. She just floated there, pulsing with that strange, unreadable energy, waiting for something Nathan couldn’t identify.

"What are you?" he murmured, studying the cocoon.

[Fifth Summon: Status Unknown]

[Name: ???]

[Race: Demi-beast???]

[Rank: ???]

[Level: ???]

[Class: ???]

[Skills: ???]

Every field was a question mark. Every. Single. One.

It was unprecedented. The System had always provided information about his summons—their names, their classes, their skills, their levels. Even Mirko, on that very first day, had shown up with a full status panel. The fact that the fifth summon was completely blank suggested... something. Nathan just didn’t know what.

"You know," he said, trying to lighten the mood, "I’ve been thinking about names. Since the System isn’t giving me anything to work with, I figured I’d have one ready. What do you think of ’Fluffy’?"

Silence.

’Master,’ Mirko said flatly. ’That is a terrible name.’

"It’s descriptive!"

’It is uninspired. You named me Mirko. You named Kuro Kuro. You named Shiro Shiro. All of those names have meaning and follow a pattern!. ’Fluffy’ is... just a texture.’

"I think it’s cute."

’You think many things are cute. Most of them are wrong.’

"Harsh."

’Honest! There is a difference!’

’Mirko is correct,’ Kuro interjected. ’The name is suboptimal.’

"I could name her ’Question Mark.’ Since that’s all the System is giving me."

’That is even worse,’ Shiro said, her mental voice carrying the weight of regal disapproval. ’The fifth summon deserves a name of dignity. Of purpose. Of meaning.’

"Alright, alright. I’ll think of something better." Nathan paused. "What about—"

’Please do not suggest ’Mystery’ or ’Enigma,’’ Kuro said preemptively.

"...I was going to say ’Enigma.’"

’I am aware.’

Nathan sighed. "You guys are no fun."

’We are plenty of fun,’ Mirko protested. ’We simply have standards. High standards. The highest standards!’

’Speak for yourself,’ Kuro said. ’I have reasonable standards.’

’Your standards are impossibly high.’

’I have reasonable standards,’ Shiro said. ’The Young Lord deserves summons of quality. The fifth will be no exception.’

’I have no standards,’ Ororo admitted cheerfully. ’I simply wish for the Young Master to be happy.’

Nathan laughed again. "Okay, Ororo wins the conversation. Everyone else is disqualified."

’That is favoritism!’ Mirko shouted.

’That is wisdom,’ Ororo corrected gently.

Nathan reached out and touched the cocoon. It was warm beneath his fingers, pulsing steadily, like a heartbeat. Whatever was inside was alive. Was growing. Was waiting.

"Soon," he murmured. "Whatever you are... I hope you’re worth the wait."

’She will be,’ Mirko said, her voice softening. ’All of us were. Even me.’

"Especially you," Nathan agreed.

’Especially me,’ Mirko repeated, her mental voice swelling with pride.

The moment was interrupted by a sound.

Voices.

Nathan’s head snapped up, his body going rigid. The void was silent... always silent... and the sudden intrusion of sound that wasn’t his or his summons was so jarring, so wrong, that for a moment he thought he was hallucinating.

"Hey! Kill that slime!"

"Don’t let it—!"

"Argh! Shatter its core! Come on!"

Nathan spun, searching for the source. The voices were young... teenagers, maybe younger... and they were close. But there was nothing. No people. No source. Just the endless darkness.

"What the hell?" he muttered.

’Master?’ Mirko’s voice was alert now. ’What is it?’

"I hear voices. Young. They’re fighting something."

’Fighting?’ Kuro’s tone sharpened. ’Where?’

"I don’t know. I can’t see them. Just hear them."

The voices came again.

"I said kill the slime!"

"I’m trying! It keeps dodging!"

"It’s a slime! How does it dodge?!"

Nathan’s heart pounded in his chest. For the first time since falling into the void, something was happening. Something real. The voices were young, children even, and they were fighting a slime.

Then the void began to compress.

It wasn’t a gradual thing. It was sudden, violent, as if the entire fabric of the void had decided to fold in on itself. Nathan felt the pressure build around him, crushing him from all sides, squeezing the air from his lungs and the thoughts from his head.

’Master!’ Shiro’s voice was alarmed. ’What is happening?!’

"I don’t know!" Nathan shouted. He mentally reached for the cocoon, desummoning it into his summon space with a thought. The fifth Bunny Girl vanished, safely stored away.

And then he braced himself for impact as the compression reached its peak...

---

Thud.

He hit a hard, rocky surface. Pain lanced through his shoulder and hip, the impact jarring his teeth and rattling his bones. But he was on solid ground. Real ground. After weeks... Or probably months in the void, he was actually touching something.

Nathan lay there for a moment, gasping for air, trying to orient himself. The darkness was still there, but it was different now. Not the endless, suffocating emptiness of the void. This was a normal darkness, the darkness of a closed room, of a chamber with stone walls and a faint light source.

He could still hear the voices.

"Alright, listen up! Boss room’s ahead. Everyone ready?"

"No, wait, let’s rest first. Those slimes exhausted me."

"Hah! You’re tired from killing an F-Rank Dungeon’s mobs? Pathetic."

Nathan pushed himself onto his hands and knees. The ground was rough, rocky, covered in a thin layer of dust. He looked up and saw a massive door behind him... old, heavy, made of dark iron.

And in front of him...

The light source.

It was a massive, gelatinous blob. A giant slime, easily ten feet tall, its translucent body pulsing with faint blue light. It wobbled in place, seemingly oblivious to Nathan’s presence.

[Ding! You have reached The Dungeon’s Boss room!]

Nathan stared at the notification. Then at the slime. Then at the door behind him, where the voices were still coming from.

[F-Rank Dungeon Boss: King Slime, Level 12.]