Dante continued stepping out of the cave and exploring the area. Only now did he suddenly realize that he could see in the dark — though he had no idea why. He decided to set that thought aside for the moment and headed to the right of the cave entrance, walking along the cavern for another 30 minutes.
Eventually, he came upon a path veiled in thick white mist. The further he went, the hotter it became — until he reached a strange little pool. The water was bubbling vigorously, constantly releasing steam into the air. It was a boiling spring. The intense heat caused it to emit steam all around.
"Boiling water, huh? I guess I could cook food here."
Dante returned to the sleeping pod and rummaged around, trying to find something useful to carry with him. He folded up the blanket into a makeshift pack to sling over his back and gathered a few supplies, including a rather lucky find — a water flask. Then, using one of the spider's sharp legs he had detached earlier, he wrapped the blunt end in cloth and fashioned it into an oversized knife. With it, he cut off a few pieces of meat from the spider and took all of its legs with him. He shaved off the fine hairs to create a cord in case he needed it later.
Once prepared, he returned to the boiling spring, filled his flask with the hot water, and began cooking the spider meat. Slowly, he ate.
"Hmm… the taste is strange, but it's edible. That's all that matters."
The meat didn't taste good — but it wasn't terrible either. Just tolerable.
Dante packed up his belongings and pressed onward, continuing his journey to explore this damned place. At last, he started to notice something strange — his body had become unnaturally stronger. He hadn't felt tired or exhausted since the fight.
After a while, Dante heard sounds coming from ahead. Staying cautious, he gripped a sturdy stick in hand and looked around for cover. Fortunately, he found a hiding spot and quietly slipped into it. Luckily, the sounds gradually faded away, and nothing bad happened. He pressed on.
As he continued, Dante encountered more and more webs strung across the cavern. Thinking back, they were likely made by the creature he had fought earlier — a spider roughly the size of a grown dog. Thankfully, it wasn't as fast as a dog, or he would've become its meal right at the start.
Dante relied on his primal instincts, trying to find a way to the surface. The cavern was dark, and the path ahead kept narrowing. He kept climbing upward, but eventually ran into a dead end.
Disappointed, Dante sighed — he'd have to find another way. He spent hours wandering in vain and gradually came to the crushing realization that he wasn't going to find a way out — at least, not for now.
He had no choice but to venture farther and farther into the caverns. After nearly 20 hours of searching, fatigue finally began to take its toll. With no other option, Dante turned back toward the cave with the sleeping pod.
Luckily, nothing leapt out of the darkness to devour him along the way.
When he arrived, Dante collapsed to the ground, completely drained. His body was exhausted, and his mind dulled. He no longer felt confident or sharp — just weary and numb.
"This is so frustrating. I've searched everywhere and still can't find a way out. Sigh," he muttered, sinking into despair.
Looking up, Dante noticed something. Somehow, the pod had fallen from a very high ledge above. When he looked closely, he could just barely see faint light coming down from above. It must have been nighttime when he first woke up, which was why he hadn't noticed it before.
And the sleeping pod was still intact.
Despite his exhaustion, Dante forced himself to look for something to block the cave entrance — or at least create a makeshift alarm in case anything approached. After a bit of searching, he climbed into the pod and drifted off into sleep. Perhaps this was the end, but he was too tired to care.
When he awoke, the cave and the hole leading up above were still there. No light, no movement. Just silence. Dante got up, stretched, and walked around. It finally hit him: he had been completely abandoned in this horrible place. No one else was here.
The loneliness began to play tricks on his mind — he started seeing things.
As he examined the sleeping pod, he noticed a red button behind a glass cover. Smashing the glass, he hoped desperately that this would somehow save him. He stared at the button, curious. Then he pressed it.
Suddenly, a nearby indicator light began to blink red, accompanied by a beeping sound every few seconds. A small electronic display lit up with some text. Dante leaned in close to read it, using the blinking red light to help him see. It was an SOS signal.
Dante exhaled in relief — maybe this would save him.
But wait — the screen also said to stay in place and ensure the device remained intact. If it got damaged, the rescuers wouldn't be able to locate him.
"I just have to wait now... Damn it, why didn't I notice this earlier?"
With renewed hope, Dante started collecting stones to block the cave entrance, just in case some dangerous creature decided to wander in. He had to hold out here until someone arrived.
With hope rekindled, Dante began to relax. He roamed the area again, discovering things he hadn't noticed before — like the boiling spring that had helped him cook food, or the glowing moss growing along the walls. Everything felt new to him. Though the place was made entirely of stone and spider webs, he didn't feel bored. In fact, there was a strange sense of eerie excitement.
Maybe Dante had always loved adventure — he just never had the chance to realize it until now.
Eventually, he returned to the cave. As he sat waiting, he suddenly felt light tremors beneath him. At first, he thought it was his imagination — a trick of exhaustion. He told himself everything was fine.
But it wasn't.
"Oh no!" he muttered. "What the hell is that? Why are the tremors getting stronger?"
He began to hear the sounds of something reptilian — though he was certain there weren't any reptiles down here. He had already killed two strange spiders since arriving one here and another one on those 20 hours of searching a ways out. Throughout his journey, he had seen many of their webs — thick clusters, even egg sacs.
Dante was now 99% certain those tremors were being caused by more of those spiders.
His face grew more tense by the second. He grabbed the sturdy stick and his makeshift dagger, now reinforced with blanket padding and spider silk, and prepared himself for whatever was coming next.