A TRAPPED IN A GAME AT LEVEL 9999

Chapter 9 – Descent into Shadows

Night had wrapped the city in its arms. The scattered lanterns in the bazaar were now dimming, and the air carried an old silence mixed with spices and dust. This part of the city, the old western gate, now belonged to no one — only stone walls and collapsed-roof houses where humans lived only in dreams.

Ryu stood on the roof of an old building. Below him, Elira and Kael were sleeping, or at least they appeared to be. He looked at the sky — his face illuminated by the half-moon in a faint light. No one knew how many voices were hidden inside him — and how many times he had suppressed them.

Elira opened her eyes. She heard the soft echo of Ryu’s footsteps reverberating on the roof. Thinking for a moment, she got up and climbed the straight stairs.

Ryu turned to look. Moonlight fell on Elira’s hair. In her hands was the same old small basket, now containing only two dried fruits.

“Elira,” Ryu said in a soft tone, “you should have slept.”

Elira smiled and looked at the sky. “Sleep and peace are the same, Ryu. Both come when there is nothing left inside.”

Ryu remained silent. Her hair moved slightly with the wind. For a moment, Elira stared at him — as if trying to find out the last time this person had smiled.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Elira asked. “Tomorrow… everything will be different.”

Without looking at her, Ryu replied, “Fear comes when you know what you are about to lose. I don’t even remember what I had.”

Elira saw a quiet smile on his face that vanished in a second. She let out a small laugh and said, “Yet you fight for everyone.”

Ryu looked at her. “Fighting is never for people, Elira. Sometimes we just want someone else not to endure what we have endured.”

The wind stopped. For a moment, there were only two people — one running from the darkness within himself, and one trying to see the light inside that darkness.

Below, Kael listened with his eyes closed. He thought to himself, “This boy is no longer human. If he falls, he will drag everything down with him.”

Above, Elira adjusted her shawl against the slight cold. “Tomorrow we’ll go into the catacombs, right? Do you trust Saren?”

Ryu took a distant light into his eyes and said, “Not trust. Only necessity. Some paths can only be shown by enemies.”

Elira remained silent. Then there was only the wind. For a moment, Ryu paused. He looked down from the corner of the roof.

A shadow moved behind a wall. And then a faint whistle — the same one he had heard in the jungle.

Ryu said in a low voice, “You have arrived.”

Saren came in the dark with footsteps and said, “Just checking if you’d be on time. Tomorrow night, behind the old church. And keep Elira outside.”

Ryu replied directly, “I don’t leave my people behind.”

Saren’s laugh grew a little louder. “Then you still have humanity… or just stubbornness?”

Ryu stepped forward and said only one line, “Stubbornness is what saves you when everything else is gone.”

Saren disappeared into the shadows. Elira opened her mouth to say something, but Ryu only raised his hand to stop her.

“Just sleep. Tomorrow is a long day of travel.”

Elira silently descended. Ryu remained standing — the moon had now hidden behind clouds, and the whole city seemed paused in a single breath.

This was the part of the night where the city’s sound completely vanished. No dog barked, no fish stirred in the water — only the wind blew, slow and cold, as if carrying old secrets away.

Ryu stood on the roof, eyes closed. Inside him was the same old silence — the one that never grants peace. Something was awake within him, as if someone had reloaded an old file.

“Continue?” “Yes.”

That voice echoed in his mind. Along with it — smoke, shouting, and a small hand slipping from his.

“Ryu… don’t go!”

The voice felt so real that Ryu blinked. His hands trembled, but he steadied them. He told himself, “Ghosts of the past only hold power as long as you see them.”

Kael’s voice came from below, “Still awake?”

Ryu looked down. Kael was sitting against a wall, sword held between his knees. “Sleep is a luxury now,” Ryu replied.

Kael chuckled a little, “And yet you always seem ready. Sometimes it feels like you aren’t human.”

Ryu looked at him and gave a faint smile — the same old, incomplete smile. “I am human. Just waiting for the game to end.”

Kael looked at him, said nothing. Only, “Morning is coming. The path to the church isn’t short.”

Ryu nodded. “I know. Wake Elira, let’s go.”

The time before dawn is the strangest — neither night fully passes, nor day arrives. The sky’s color shifts from blue to silver.

The three passed through the back part of the city, entering the old quarter — where vines had grown on walls and the road was breaking beneath the stones.

Elira whispered, “This city… feels strange. As if something is eating it from within.”

Kael said sarcastically, “Perfect place to meet a rogue.”

Ryu remained silent. His attention was on every corner. Behind every door, he sensed a presence. When they reached the old church, the moon had completely disappeared.

The church was now just a hollow shell — broken glass windows, falling stones, and a large iron gate through which the wind made a strange sound.

Saren was there, standing by an old altar. His mask was still half on, but the same smile was in his eyes — as if everything were just a game.

“You are on time,” he said. “I thought you would forget.”

Kael replied immediately, “Trusting someone like you is a mistake.”

Saren laughed. “Trust? I just make deals. Trust is for those who don’t know the value of time.”

Ryu spoke directly, “Where is the path?”

Saren raised his hand and showed an old iron grill beneath the altar. “Under this. The catacombs start here.”

Elira leaned over the grill. “Dark… so deep it’s as if the whole world is sleeping below.”

Saren said, “Not sleeping. Something has risen there. Are you ready?”

Kael drew his sword, “You go first.”

Saren smiled. “Of course, gentleman.”

He opened the grill, and an old staircase descended below. The air was cold, carrying a strange, dense smell — old earth, iron, and something else… that was not human.

Elira came close to Ryu and softly said, “Do you think this is the right path?”

Ryu looked at her and said firmly, “Paths aren’t right or wrong, Elira. Some paths just take something from us.”

Then he moved ahead and descended the stairs.

Saren followed behind him, and Kael and Elira after him. As they went down, the air grew colder, and old markings inscribed inside the stone walls began to glow at every step.

Kael took a torch and read an inscription — written in an ancient language: “Once buried, the truth does not rest.”

Elira softly asked, “Ryu… what does it mean?”

Ryu looked straight ahead and said, “It means we are in the right place.”

Saren let out a small laugh. “Then, shall we start the game?”

Ryu looked at him, his eyes now gleaming with something beyond moonlight — that old, lethal clarity.

“The game starts,” Ryu said, “when everything seems finished.”

And the four disappeared into the darkness of the catacombs.