Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 131: I’m starving

Liam stood slowly, the fire of determination starting to warm through the grief still heavy in his chest. Gorr’s death weighed on them all, but letting it paralyze them would mean more death. And they’d already lost too much. He turned his eyes toward the others.

"We need to find Borik... Von... Eleanor," Liam said quietly, but the firmness in his voice cut through the silence. "And Sera, if she’s still alive. We can’t leave them behind."

Marcus nodded, his face grim. "Yeah."

Jason glanced over at Gorr’s body one last time, his jaw tight. Then he stepped beside Marcus, offering a hand to help shift Mariel’s unconscious form onto his back again. She was lighter than she looked, limp like a rag doll. Her head slumped gently against Marcus’s shoulder as he steadied her with one arm. They had no time to mourn anymore. No time to pause.

Liam grabbed the torch and looked around. The room had only one door, the one they had come through. But the flame’s light stretched further now, casting flickers across the floor, and catching on a seam of stone on the far side. Jason’s eyes narrowed slightly and he walked over to it, crouching. He ran his hand along the wall until his fingers found the edge, and with a low grunt, he pressed against it. The hidden panel gave a faint click and shifted aside, revealing a narrow staircase curling downward into the shadows.

Liam turned to Jason with a look of mild surprise. "You didn’t mention that before."

Jason shrugged, his voice low. "Gorr and I saw it... but it looked like a dead end. Just an empty corridor below. We didn’t have time to check it out properly before she—before it came."

Liam didn’t hesitate. "We check it now. Dead end or not, they might’ve gone that way. Or been taken."

No one argued.

He turned back toward the stairwell and stepped forward, the flame from the torch licking at the darkness ahead. The others followed behind him, Marcus bearing Mariel carefully, and Jason scanning every corner with tense eyes.

The stone steps creaked under their boots, each footfall sounding too loud in the stillness. The air grew colder the deeper they went, damp and heavy with the scent of moss and old blood. The flame sputtered slightly in the draft, casting jittery shadows along the walls.

They reached a landing that opened into a narrow stone hallway. Cracks lined the walls, and dried streaks of something unidentifiable marred the floor. It twisted slightly to the left, then abruptly dropped again in another set of steps. Liam stopped at the top of those steps, holding up the torch to scan ahead.

Jason caught up beside him, rubbing his stomach absently. His eyes drifted toward the floor, where faint marks suggested that something—or someone—had been dragged through recently.

"They could’ve gone down this way," Jason said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Marcus shifted Mariel slightly on his back, grunting softly. He took a breath to steady himself, but as he did—his stomach growled.

It was loud. Unmistakable. Echoing slightly in the narrow corridor.

Jason turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. Liam turned as well. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Marcus glanced between them, then sighed. "What? I’m starving."

Liam gave a tired half-laugh. "We all are. I hadn’t even noticed."

Jason’s expression softened for the first time in what felt like hours. "Guess fear’s a decent appetite suppressant."

They stood there for a moment in the shadows, the reality of their situation finally sinking in. The adrenaline had been pumping so long, they’d all stopped noticing the strain their bodies were under. Hunger gnawed at their stomachs like a silent reminder that they were still alive, still human.

Marcus adjusted Mariel again, shifting her weight to balance better. "Food... water... even sleep. We haven’t had any of those since this whole nightmare started."

Liam gave a slow nod. "Once we find the others... if we find them... we’ll need to stop. Just for a while. To breathe."

Jason looked up at him, eyes hollow. "What if there’s no time left for breathing?"

Liam didn’t answer. He turned and led the way down the second set of stairs.

The descent felt longer this time. Every step down echoed into something older, colder, almost forgotten. The walls were closer, the ceiling lower. The torch’s light was swallowed quicker here, as if the shadows themselves resented their presence.

They came to a small chamber. Empty, save for an ancient pedestal in the center and faded murals on the wall, worn almost beyond recognition. Liam approached the pedestal cautiously, holding the torch over it. There was a hollow indentation at the top, as if something had once been placed there. A relic, perhaps. Something valuable—or dangerous.

Jason walked toward the mural. He brushed the dust away, revealing a scene: figures kneeling before a shadow, a giant swirling presence that towered over them. The figures’ eyes were hollow. Their mouths open in silent screams. At the base of the mural were symbols—foreign, yet strangely familiar.

Marcus joined him. "Think it means anything?"

"It means this place is older than we thought," Jason said, voice grim. "And whatever’s possessing Sophia—it’s been here a long time."

Liam turned away from the pedestal, walking the perimeter of the chamber. There were no other visible exits. Just stone. Cold and unyielding.

"Damn it," he muttered. "Jason, you sure this was the only other passage?"

Jason looked around helplessly. "Unless something’s hidden again..."

Liam sighed and slammed his fist into the wall. The impact echoed through the room.

Then—another sound. A subtle click. Followed by the slow, grinding groan of stone moving against stone. A section of the wall behind the pedestal slid open, revealing a pitch-black tunnel beyond.

Marcus gave a small, dry laugh. "Well... at least you’re good for something, Liam."

Liam shot him a look. But he couldn’t help the faint smirk tugging at his lips.

Jason was already peering into the dark tunnel. "I don’t like this... but it’s a lead."

Liam looked back at the chamber, at the murals, at the pedestal. Then at Mariel, unconscious on Marcus’s back.

He raised the torch and stepped forward again. "Let’s go."

They entered the tunnel, the darkness closing in behind them like a curtain. Each step forward was heavier. Not just with exhaustion—but with dread.

What lay ahead was anyone’s guess. But they had each other.

And right now, that had to be enough.