What, where, when, why, and how?!

He had so many questions, but in the end, they all converged into one horrifying thought:

Were they actually going to die from this?

Luca, whose pupils had dilated so much that his reaction alone was enough to send everyone else into a panic, could hardly believe what he was seeing.

With only those inexplicable words as warning, a massive progress bar appeared before all of them and steadily inched closer and closer toward completion with every passing moment.

"D-29!" Luca called out frantically while searching through the interface that he knew wouldn’t really budge. "There’s still no tooltip? No explanation? Nothing?!"

The little system sounded equally distressed.

"Host, I apologize! There’s still no information regarding this ’bridging’ in particular!" D-29 cried out. "But actually, aside from the upgrades shown earlier, the only other thing currently pending is a firmware update!"

"Huh?" Luca blinked rapidly. "A firmware update this time?"

"Yes, Host! But we absolutely cannot initialize it right now because there’s a possibility of temporary downtime during installation! I couldn’t risk triggering that while this is happening!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Not that it would probably even allow itself to activate in the middle of this.

Still, Luca somehow understood why they might currently be missing information.

Normally, after every major dungeon upgrade, D-29 would take time to synchronize with the dungeon before emerging with greater access to the manual and newly unlocked systems.

But this time, the little system had not even been given the opportunity to do that yet.

Now, admittedly, that was not a definitive explanation. But even before synchronization, most things had still come with at least basic descriptions, which made the current situation difficult to ignore.

But this prompt...

Not only had it appeared far more forcefully than the others, but it also sounded deeply ominous to someone who actually had a better understanding of dungeons.

Luca was still spiraling internally when he suddenly felt a hand settle firmly on his shoulder.

It was Xavier.

"Luca," the Imperial Prince said calmly, "it only says ’bridging,’ correct?"

The panicked chipmunk immediately perked up.

"If so, and if it means exactly what it usually does, then at the very least, we can probably expect a connection rather than an overlap."

Luca froze slightly after hearing that.

Because his husband understood exactly what he was afraid of: the possibility that another dungeon might suddenly rip space open directly in front of them again.

And while it might sound like a slim possibility—or even an overreaction—to those who similarly believed they would never win the lottery, for the people who had already experienced it once, it was very much a reality.

Everyone watched as the progress bar crept closer and closer toward completion.

Xavier simply tightened his hold on Luca slightly before saying, "We don’t know what’s about to happen next, but everyone should stay grouped together and hold onto someone just in case."

Unfortunately for them, running away from this simply wasn’t an option. Knowing that dungeons could eventually break when left unconquered, they would have no choice but to deal with it.

And because D-29 currently couldn’t fully control itself, leaving the space wouldn’t be wise either. Who knew whether they would even be able to return afterward?

So, the best they could do was brace themselves and hope all their emergency preparations would hold.

Now, some people honestly did not even require the reminder for grouping up.

One particular proactive blonde practically looked fused to his husband already.

Then again, this was also the same person whose second name might as well have been "Prepared," considering he had traveled with an unreasonable number of space buttons just in case disaster struck.

Granted, he was being extra clingy because he was exactly the type to unknowingly end up in the middle of a disaster while dreaming his life away. But it should be fine! After all, there was no way his guaranteed protector would discard him now!

But surprisingly, aside from the blonde and the actual children that had been picked up for safety, another person had gone to intense lengths from the moment the prompt came up.

And that was Jax.

Unlike the others, he had not been present during the previous dungeon incident. Practically missing it by a hair’s breadth.

Now, that was something he definitely took to heart, resulting in this scenario of him gluing himself to the nearest people like his life depended on it.

And in a way, that was good thinking, alright. Very thoughtful, too.

Unfortunately, what one perennially exhausted Nox could not understand was why he had to be in some sort of chokehold?

Forget getting thrown and dying inside a dungeon, at this rate, Killian would likely die from suffocation even before the progress bar even reached one hundred percent.

Honestly, it would’ve been understandable if someone like his younger brother’s barnacle had his arms wrapped around his neck,

But no.

This guy’s growth had apparently gone entirely into those muscles.

However, before Killian could even begin protesting about his rapidly diminishing oxygen supply—

The progress bar reached the end.

And together with it came a loud ding so startling that even the Imperial monarchs visibly flinched.

[DUNGEON SELECTION COMPLETED]

[PREPARING ACCESS POINT...]

"!!!"

Ah, shit.

No one actually cursed out loud.

At this point, most people could only gasp.

But for someone like the dwarf Cece—who had nearly died inside a dungeon before—her internal thoughts were definitely far less polite.

Oh, fuck.

Surprisingly, amidst all the apprehension and rising panic, there was one existence that seemed genuinely excited about what was happening.

Currently unnoticed by the increasingly tense crowd, one little baby had actually entered a state of synchronization the moment Luca selected the earlier prompt.

Its usual processes temporarily halted.

Then, just as the synchronization sequence flickered toward completion—

Everyone suddenly witnessed the projection of the dungeon space begin to change.

The miniature holographic map, which already displayed the distinct zones and barriers of the dungeon, suddenly shifted.

At the edge of the massive circular dome, part of the barrier began extending outward.

It looked as though a path was being carved directly through space itself.

The extension stretched farther and farther away from the original boundary like a glowing corridor leading into complete unknown territory. The entire thing pulsed rhythmically with light before finally opening into a large, flat clearing that definitely had not existed moments earlier.

Then another prompt abruptly appeared.

[MATERIALIZING DUNGEON GATE...]

People immediately tightened their grips on one another. If the earlier words had only sounded vaguely threatening, then this one was practically an outright declaration.