I wanted to try something... new.
> story
Red’s Dungeon Diary
Day 15: Nightmare

The catacombs are minor sub-areas that make up only a small portion of Floor 4. They are usually narrow, winding tunnels buried deep beneath the earth, often accessible only through certain marked graves or unstable, shifting doorways.

Due to their unnatural properties, the true layout and size of the catacombs remain unknown. No map has ever been drawn with certainty. Explorers who return alive often describe simply walking wherever their limited light could reach, letting the winding tunnels guide them until, eventually, a faint light marked the exit.

Despite the uncertainty, many adventurers willingly descend into the catacombs. The reason? These winding paths seem to shorten travel time through the vast sprawl of Floor 4, allowing explorers to reach the next floor’s gate more quickly. What’s more, for reasons still unclear, ghosts are unable to enter the catacombs — and unlike the surface, no traps or hidden death chambers have ever been recorded down here.

All of this makes the catacombs a favored route for experienced adventurers. However, newer or faint-hearted explorers are often warned not to tread this path.

Though the halls seem still and silent, two hostile creatures are known to dwell within.
The first are Shadow Creatures — ambushers who prefer to strike from the darkness, but who are easily repelled by light.

The second… is the Nightmare.

Those who have survived an encounter describe it as something grotesque and foul. A warped, malformed being with countless needle-sharp teeth and writhing tendrils erupting from its face. Its two eyes are said to be as deep as the void itself. As for its size — no one knows for sure. Some say it appears massive, yet never fully reveals its form, always half-concealed in shadow. What is clear: the Nightmare is a uniquely hostile and mysterious entity.

Very few live to speak of it. Yet from the fragmented records left behind by the earliest explorers — some dating back centuries — we know this much:
There appears to be only one Nightmare in the catacombs.

The moment an explorer steps into the catacombs, an unknown protocol is triggered — a mysterious mechanism that awakens the Nightmare. However, it does not act immediately.

After 20 minutes pass, it enters the second phase — stalking. The Nightmare, it seems, knows these paths intimately. It follows from a distance, careful not to cross the explorer’s path. Despite its suggested bulk, it moves without a sound.

At the 40-minute mark, it enters phase three — approach. It begins to draw closer, intentionally letting the adventurer know they are no longer alone. Faint sounds in the dark. A fleeting shape flitting past the edge of torchlight.

Then, after a full hour underground, it begins the hunt.
It starts with a mad, guttural laugh — a sound that chills the marrow — and then charges. If the explorers are in a group, it picks them off one by one, appearing just long enough to grab a victim before vanishing again. Each abduction happens five to ten minutes apart, sowing dread among the survivors.

No one knows where the Nightmare takes its victims, nor what becomes of them. Its lair is believed to lie deep within the catacombs, but no one has yet found it — and no bodies have ever been recovered.

However, if an explorer manages to leave the catacombs before being caught, the mysterious protocol resets. The Nightmare retreats, its hostile nature fading, and the cycle begins anew.

Today, Red decided to take the catacombs — a quicker path out of Floor 4… and because, quite frankly, he hates the ghosts that roam above.

But it seems he wasn’t fast enough. He failed to escape the swallowing dark before the hour was up.

And then… he came face to face with something he never imagined he’d encounter.

He’d heard the stories — how no one knows what the Nightmare does to its victims.

But now…
he supposes he’s about to find out.