Dusk (BL Light Novel)

When I saw the pit, Abrea had a speech bubble above his head muttering, “How was I even standing on top of that…?” Honestly, I had the same thought. It looked like it had only been loosely covered, but that much loose soil somehow supported him just fine? Maybe it was just a case of game logic.

Anyway, as Abrea descended first, a quest prompt appeared telling me to follow him. A soft white glow swirled around the edge of the pit. I walked up to it, and my character went into a diving animation. The screen went black, and a loading screen appeared.
Before long, I arrived in a damp cave illuminated by pale white lights along the walls—surprisingly not too dark. The ground wasn’t the brown of typical dirt but more like gray ash, making it feel like I was inside a coal mine.
I had finally set foot inside the Secret Passage. Feeling emotional, I hid the UI and took a screenshot. I wasn’t the type to take many, so the shots weren’t amazing, but just leaving a record that I’d been here was enough.

After taking a few pictures, I stood beside Abrea to take one with him too. But just like earlier at the fountain, he suddenly turned his head and stared right at me. It felt like he was silently saying, “Why are you standing around? Get moving.” I quickly turned the UI back on and clicked to speak to him.
[- Abrea: Good, we made it in safely, so we shouldn’t run into any combat. Relax, and let’s slowly work our way through the passage while investigating. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) If you spot anything serious, report it immediately to the lead investigator or the Aideas team lead.]
[- Abrea: Just in case, let me make this clear—if I find out you only reported it to one side because we’re from different factions, you’ll regret it. This is about our entire race. Whether you like it or not, we agreed to cooperate. If anyone acts emotionally and breaks that agreement, we’ll be enforcing consequences under the terms of the pact.]

The dialogue ended, and I was free to move. The next quest objective popped up: “Investigate the Secret Passage. (0/4)”
I opened the map with M. The passage was about the size of the entire Atelierna region—or rather, probably the same size with different tunnels, since the Eunseo Tribe had built this underground network to move around without conflict.
I walked straight ahead, taking screenshots along the way. The pale flames fluttering like dandelion seeds in the wind weren’t red, yellow, or blue—just pure white—and I took a few shots under them.

Soon, I began to see other players. More and more Eunseo Tribe NPCs were running about in their frantic way. Normally there would have been more people here, but this area was instanced into different channels, so it stayed relatively quiet.
I figured it was time to focus on the quest instead of photography. Just as I thought that, the screen shook along with a message that said the ground was rumbling. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t see, but while the players stood calmly, the NPCs were losing it—falling, grabbing the walls, and screaming. One even dropped the wooden box he was carrying and bolted.
Wasn’t the report about strange air currents? Why is the ground shaking? Maybe the currents weren’t what I thought. The thought came and went—I didn’t dwell on it.

As I took a few steps forward, I noticed a white glow spinning around the wooden box the NPC had dropped. It was an interactable object. I went over and pressed F to investigate.
[(It’s a tool chest dropped by a janitor. As you dig through it, you find a strange, glowing leaf.)]
▷ Take the strange glowing leaf.
▷ It’s just some weird trash. Leave it and investigate elsewhere.

Huh. So depending on what you investigate, the story might change? Or you could succeed or fail?
Why are there Tsukūru-style choice prompts in an MMORPG? Still, this was part of the quest. I paused to think. A glowing leaf. Taking it felt like the obvious move—but because it was so obviously marked, it might be a trap.
…Then again, would an MMORPG really pull the “gotcha” trick like a mystery game? Maybe in combat—but not in exploration like this, right?

I wasn’t the type to overthink. Thinking was annoying. Screw it—I went with my gut. I picked it up.
[(This plant species has never been seen anywhere on the continent.)]
[System] You have obtained x1.
Looked like I got it right. A leaf never seen anywhere on the continent, found in this underground cave? Come on, of course that’s significant.

Even if I guessed randomly, I felt a little proud of myself. I always had good luck with wild guesses.
After picking up the leaf, the wooden box slowly faded away. I sprinted off to search the next spot. Now that I knew I didn’t have to click every random object in this huge place, I just had to find glowing ones fast.
The cave was riddled with branching paths, like an ant nest. I took the left path first to check for quest objects, then returned to the fork and marked the explored path on the map. Every so often, aftershocks would rumble the cave.

Starting from Outpost 51 and working toward Outpost 44—basically the center of the map—I collected three quest objects including the glowing leaf. Just as I grabbed the third report, the background music faded out and a warning message flashed across the screen.
[Suddenly, the flow of air has changed. You have a bad feeling.]
[You should hurry to regroup with ‘Abrea Shediana.’]

The music was gone, replaced by a strange, whispering wind. It was faint, but eerie enough to feel like a horror game.
Ugh, I hate this kind of vibe. I rubbed the back of my neck and checked the quest log. It was still in the “investigate” phase. Since the quest hadn’t updated to tell me to meet Abrea, it had to be an ambient event or a trigger that happens after the third investigation.
I didn’t love the atmosphere, but I was curious what would happen next. I opened the map and looked for Abrea. The quest said to head to the “Modest Trade Market” in the center of the passage after completing the investigation, so that’s probably where he was.

Up to now, I’d just taken my time with the investigation, but the market wasn’t far. I opened the map and toggled sprint mode, dashing straight there. As I got closer, I began to see Jeopa Tribe NPCs—but since this was a neutral zone, I ignored them and kept going.
I reached the center in under a minute. It was fairly crowded. Alongside the usual questers and NPCs, lots of life-skill-focused players were gathered to craft or trade.
As I entered the market and paused to look for Abrea, a few players recognized me and greeted me in chat. Some were people I’d partied with before or had done trades with, so I returned their hellos.

[General] dontsmokeonthepath: Here for the main quest, huh?
[General] Honeybread: lol yeah but the main quest is creepy af
[General] dontsmokeonthepath: Wait, really? Holy Guardian story is horror-themed?

[General] Honeybread: idk man, the BGM suddenly cut out and it said—
[General] Honeybread: “The flow of air has changed! You have a bad feeling…”
[General] Honeybread: Like that

[General] Honeybread: Then it told me to go regroup with an NPC
[General] dontsmokeonthepath: ??? lmao wtf that’s terrifying
[General] ratcrack: Honeybread-nim, are you doing a hidden story?

While I was chatting with Pathsmoke—who used to mass-produce food for everyone—someone came up to me.
A hidden story? Was there a hidden storyline this time?
[General] Honeybread: Hidden story?

[General] ratcrack: Some players are saying they’re seeing hidden story stuff. Retaking might be on one too.
Retaking?
[General] Honeybread: You know exactly what triggers it?

[General] ratcrack: Not really, I didn’t get the hidden route. I just know some storylines are different for certain people.
[General] ratcrack: You should check the community board
[General] Honeybread: ty ty

I suddenly got super curious. I opened a new browser window on my sub-monitor and navigated to the Dusk official website, then opened the free discussion board. Just like ratcrack said, there were a bunch of posts titled things like “Hidden Story something something.”
I clicked the one with “Comprehensive Summary” in the title first.