’How?’

’I can’t believe it.’

Reigns stood there silently, staring at the memorial photograph behind them.

Even now, his mind refused to accept what he had just heard. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Kellar slowly lowered his head while Lira continued crying quietly beside him.

For several moments, none of them spoke.

The heavy atmosphere around them only grew worse as distant sobs echoed throughout the mourning hall.

Finally, Kellar took a deep breath and slowly began.

"Everything was normal on the first floor."

His voice sounded tired and hoarse, as though he hadn’t properly rested for days.

"We thought it would just be another difficult zone, but still manageable. But when we reached the second floor, the monsters became way stronger."

Kellar clenched his fists tightly as those memories resurfaced.

"We died a few times trying to survive the mist zone, but honestly, even that wasn’t the real nightmare."

His face darkened heavily.

"But what came after clearing the mist zone became our actual nightmare..."

Lira’s crying intensified after hearing those words.

Kellar slowly rubbed his face before continuing.

"The sand zone was brutal."

"There were sandworms hiding beneath the ground, and they kept attacking from the dark. They would appear without warning and drag people underground before chewing them alive."

His jaw tightened.

"It was literally a nightmare for all of us."

Reigns slowly felt his throat growing dry as he listened in silence.

Kellar’s expression twisted with pain.

"And it was there... "

He paused for a moment.

"...that we lost Ren."

The moment those words entered his ears, Reigns’ pupils trembled violently. His fingers twitched slightly.

Kellar lowered his head even further.

"And that was when we found out something even worse. You can only die three times inside the dungeon. For god’s sake, it’s just three fucking lives, and there was no fucking announcement about it."

His voice rose in anger and frustration before cracking apart.

"And to make it worse, we couldn’t even go back."

"We tried pressing the exit button again and again, but nothing worked."

"So all we could do was survive."

"We didn’t dare advance any farther because we were scared, but even that turned out to be another mistake. The sandworms kept getting stronger."

Kellar’s hands trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Thankfully, we weren’t alone. There were several other survivors trapped there too."

"But every day people kept dying. In the end, we decided to form a squad together and move toward the next zone."

A bitter laugh escaped him.

"But that place turned out to be even worse. There were fish monsters everywhere, and most of them were above Level 10."

"As soon as we reached there, a gigantic tentacle emerged from the ocean and grabbed us."

Lira broke down harder after hearing this part.

Kellar closed his eyes tightly, unable to continue for a moment. Then he spoke again.

"Arvin and Mira sacrificed themselves to save us. They pushed us away while those tentacles dragged them deep into the ocean."

"They were struggling..."

His voice finally broke completely for a moment.

Reigns felt his chest tightening painfully.

Kellar remained silent for several seconds before speaking again in a low voice.

"After that, the remaining survivors gathered together near the beach."

"We didn’t dare go deeper inside."

"So we just stayed there for days, waiting helplessly."

"And then one day, the dungeon was cleared from somewhere else. We were forced out immediately after that."

Kellar slowly raised his exhausted eyes toward Reigns.

"And now we’re here."

The moment Reigns heard everything, his entire body froze.

It felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck directly into his mind. His thoughts stopped functioning completely.

Nyxara tightened her grip around Reigns’ hand as if trying to comfort him.

The faces of Ren, Arvin, and Mira flashed repeatedly inside his head.

The memories of laughing together, talking together, and surviving together felt painfully distant now.

His breathing became heavier.

A deep sense of horror slowly swallowed his mind whole.

So many people had died.

So many of them were gone forever.

A game world...

That was what Reigns had believed it to be until now.

To him, it had been nothing more than a gaming world—until the cruel reality slapped him across the face.

And the worst part was that they had died while desperately trying to survive in that hellish place without even fully knowing the rules.

Reigns slowly stepped backward.

His legs trembled weakly as though all strength had left his body.

For the first time since returning alive from the dungeon, the true weight of death finally crashed down on him completely.

He stood there motionlessly, staring at the memorial photographs before him.

His mind felt completely blank.

"If only we had cleared the dungeon properly, everyone would have been safe..."

His lips moved slowly as he muttered those words under his breath.

"No... more than that..."

"If we hadn’t abandoned them just to rush ahead..."

A deep feeling of guilt clawed into his chest.

Reigns grabbed his head with both hands and gritted his teeth hard.

The more he looked at the endless rows of photographs before him, the stronger the hollowness inside him became.

It felt as though something had been ripped out of his chest, leaving only emptiness behind.

He still couldn’t believe it.

Just a few days ago, they had all been laughing together, arguing together, and trying to survive side by side inside the dungeon.

But now...

Now they were gone. Gone forever.

The first group of real friends he had ever made had disappeared just like that.

And somehow, somewhere deep inside, Reigns blamed himself for it.

If only he had done things differently.

If only he had stayed behind.

If only he had become stronger sooner.

His fingers trembled slightly while his gaze remained fixed on the memorial photographs.

At that moment, Nyxara quietly stepped closer.

Without saying anything, she gently took hold of his arm.

Reigns lowered his head, trying desperately to keep his emotions under control.

Nyxara watched him silently for a few moments before finally speaking in a calm voice.

"It wasn’t your fault."