Dusk (BL Light Novel)

While waiting for the loading screen, I watched Retaking try to figure out what “412” meant. Personally, I didn’t think the number held any significance, but he seemed to feel otherwise. I vaguely heard phrases like “A-chip”... something, “error,” and “code,” but they melted away like cotton candy in my ears. I just didn’t care. It was probably just a generic game error code—same as when I’d been kicked and got that jumbled string of question marks and letters.
Eventually, the loading finished, and I was dropped back into the dungeon. Right in front of me stood Abrea, staring at me with a strange expression.

I quickly hit the keys and tried to move. The moment I did, Honeybread moved fluidly, smooth as water, as if he’d never been stiff or jerky at all.
As I darted around, Abrea stepped back. He held something in his hand—a key I hadn’t seen before. White and radiant, glowing with a divine sort of light, it instantly reminded me of the nameless boss. He definitely hadn’t had that thing when we first entered the dungeon.
[Party] Retaking: You’re back?

—“Looks like Honeybread’s reconnected—hang on a sec.”
Retaking had been speculating with his chat when he saw me log back in, and I heard him pause, fingers tapping on the keyboard, followed by his message in party chat.
[Party] Honeybread: yeah;

[Party] Honeybread: Did we actually clear it?
[Party] Retaking: I think so... but it didn’t drop any loot
No loot? I rotated my screen and scanned every inch of the lounge where we’d fought. Just like Retaking said, the boss hadn’t dropped any of the usual clear rewards—no Refining Stones on the floor, none in my inventory, nothing no matter how hard I looked.

Even if it hadn’t been the final boss, there should’ve been at least some kind of trash drop. I wondered if the loot, like the boss’s name and skills, was just invisible by design. I ran the auto-move command to the center of the lounge and had my character comb the ground, but not a single thing appeared.
Even the portal that usually popped up when a dungeon was cleared—wasn’t there.
[Party] Honeybread: what the fuck, we worked our asses off

[Party] Honeybread: why no loot??
[Party] Retaking: That too, but I still can’t move...
I glanced over at where Retaking was still slumped on the ground and wandered over, moving around freely like I was flaunting it. I strutted around him in a little circle, showing off just how un-stuck I was.

From his stream, I heard his voice:
—“You’re doing that movement just to mock me, right.”
Obviously.

—“Wow, real mature…”
He didn’t know I could hear him, but his voice was laced with clear irritation. It made me feel great. I don’t know why messing with someone is so damn fun.
Retaking spammed a bunch of “ㅡㅡ” in chat, then said he’d try relogging and exited the game. It’d take him a bit to get back in. While he chatted with his viewers about what to do in the meantime, I muted his voice.
The boss had vanished, and the dungeon clear status was uncertain. There wasn’t much I could do. I could either continue the story or assume that what we’d killed was just the second boss and look for the next area.

Honestly, though, that nameless boss looked and felt like a final boss. And I remembered Abrea had been holding that glowing key earlier. Maybe that was the object we needed to move to the next area.
I turned my camera toward where Abrea had been.
But he was gone. So was Adam.

Something felt off. I spun the camera around, checking deeper into the tunnel carved by Deep-Eyes. There was no sign of Abrea or Adam anywhere.
Usually, if an NPC disappears, it’s because of the story. But for them to vanish without saying anything? That was rare. Most quests gave at least a hint to help guide the player’s limited viewpoint.
Maybe Abrea got kidnapped? But who would kidnap a Holy Guardian-class NPC inside a hidden dungeon that supposedly required elite-level access?

Definitely not Adam. He was just a dusty little scholar. No way he had the power. And even if it was a kidnapping, as I said, no matter how airtight the setup, games always left a trail of breadcrumbs.
So # Nоvеlight # where did they go? I thought maybe they’d just moved ahead to the next area. Maybe Abrea did say something and we missed it. He did have that key.
I debated whether to wait for Retaking to come back, but curiosity won. I crossed the lounge and headed further in. As I got closer to the far wall, the stone rose into an elevated platform. Gold-trimmed stairs with ornate carvings led up into a shadowed alcove.

I stepped past the platform into the dark space, and torches on the wall flickered to life with golden light—automatically.
There was a staircase going up.
I moved my character, climbing the lit stairs.

At the top was another lounge—no, more than that. It was a hall, even more elaborate than the floor below. If the previous area was a temple, this one was a banquet hall.
As I wandered the space, I looked for Abrea and Adam—but I was completely alone. No mobs, no NPCs, just total silence.
I ventured further in—and suddenly stopped.

Something I didn’t expect at all came into view: a portal. A private return portal, placed at the far end of the banquet hall.
These portals were convenience objects, meant to help players exit a dungeon by returning to the entrance—because this game didn’t allow instant warping out. The presence of this portal meant only one thing:
This was the final zone of the dungeon.

And I was stunned.
Instanced dungeon portals only appeared after all related story content had concluded and the final boss had been killed. If the portal was here, that meant we had cleared the last boss. But the story…
We didn’t know who the nameless boss was, or what truth Abrea had been chasing. I still didn’t know why I’d gotten kicked, or why Retaking was afflicted with that bizarre status effect. And now, even the NPCs who should’ve explained everything were gone.

With nothing resolved, I was left standing there alone. It gave me chills—like those moments in horror games or movies where only the protagonist remains.
[Party] Retaking has connected.
Just in time, a message popped up announcing Retaking’s return. Grateful, I quickly made my way back down to the lounge.

[Party] Retaking: ? Where’d you go?
[Party] Honeybread: Abrea & the others are gone there too right?
[Party] Retaking: Yeah?

[Party] Honeybread: Come where I am
[Party] Honeybread: Here
[Party] Retaking: Where exactly??

[Party] Honeybread: go further inside
[Party] Honeybread: there’s a staircase up
[Party] Retaking: On my way

We ran into each other midway—me heading down, him heading up.
I beckoned him to follow me up to the banquet hall with the private portal. He was just an avatar in a game, but having someone beside me immediately made the eerie feeling vanish. Just one extra person changed everything.
Retaking came to a halt when he saw the portal—just like I had.

[Party] Retaking: ???
[Party] Retaking: It’s a portal?
[Party] Honeybread: So I guess we really did clear the boss

[Notice] Welcome to Dusk, the world where two ends coexist.
[Party] Retaking: But we didn’t get any loot
[Notice] We’ve identified an issue in the “Veiled Mirror Labyrinth” where boss-clear reward items are not dropping after defeating the final boss.

[Notice] We are working quickly to resolve the issue. Players who have already cleared the dungeon will receive their clear rewards, including “Frost/Dew Accessory Refining Stones,” via in-game mail.
[Notice] We apologize for the inconvenience.
[Party] Retaking: Looks like we did get it

[Party] Honeybread: lmao
[Party] Honeybread: So that just got fixed
[Party] Honeybread: But the NPCs vanished

[Party] Honeybread: Did any story stuff trigger on your end?
[Party] Honeybread: Oh and
[Party] Honeybread: I saw on stream

[Party] Honeybread: my character moved on its own
After reading my question, Retaking went silent for a while, as if thinking hard—then replied with a short answer.