Part-193

  He let out a sigh, now fully ied in whatever came . As he stood up and sed the room, something caught his eye—something strange and out of pce. In the middle of his room, where there had been nothing but empty spaow stood a door. There was no wall around it—just a solitary doorframe, suspended in the middle of the room like something out of a dream.

  James smirked to himself, a touch amused by the absurdity of it all. "Is this turning into a horror story now?" he muttered under his breath. Still, his curiosity outweighed aation, and he found himself cirg the door, iing it closely. It seemed solid, well-crafted, but unnervingly ordinary given its impossible presence.

  With a quice over his shoulder to check that his room was still the same modern, familiar space, he reached out, twisted the doorknob, and slowly opehe door.

  What y beyond was pletely ued. Instead of revealing the usual view of his bedroom or another part of his house, the door opeo what looked like the entrao an a cave. The walls were rugged and primitive, dimly lit by an eerie, soft light that seemed to emanate from nowhere in particur.

  James blinked, stepping ba surprise. His room behind him was still modern, still normal. But in front of him was airely different world. "Okay, this is ridiculous," he muttered. But ridiculous or not, something about the cave pulled him in.

  As he hesitated at the threshold, the familiar sound of the system chimed again in his mind:

  [You have entered Level 1 of the Lamp of Time Dungeon.]

  James froze. A dungeon? What was going on? He hadn’t signed up for any dungeon exploration missions. And then, another notification appeared.

  [he monster in this dungeon is the Ratling Sger—a small, rabid rodent.]

  James felt a mix of relief and trepidation. A "small rodent" didn’t sound too dangerous, but then again, this wasly the real world anymore. Still, there was only one way to find out what awaited him.

  Stepping cautiously into the cave, James took a deep breath. The air was cool, damp, and filled with the earthy smell of moss aone. He gnced baore time at the door, ensuring it was still open, a gateway back to the safety of his room. Satisfied, he ventured deeper into the cave.

  The path twisted and turned, and soorance was out of sight. The deeper he went, the narrower the walls became, and the only sound was the quiet echo of his own footsteps oone floor. The tension in the air grew thick, and James’s muscles tensed, every sense on high alert.

  Suddenly, a small sound—like the scratg of cws against stone—echoed through the cave. James stopped, his heart skipping a beat. He strained his ears, trying to locate the source of the was faint but unmistakable—something was moving up ahead.