[June 21, 2077 (2 months ago), 10:00 PM]

[Location: Mine entrance area]

[Environment: Temperature 26°C, strong wind, humid]

[With Lord Black Tiger's permission, our group successfully entered Pit 21. The leader... or rather the most important person in the team, is a baby-faced female celebrity who's reportedly pretty famous lately. Something Ananta... never mind, let's just call her the female celebrity.]

[Behind her are two male photographers, and beside her is a burly bodyguard equipped with a fully automatic rifle and grenade launcher, who I felt should be a mercenary.]

[A female celebrity, two guys of average stature, a mercenary, and myself, an old miner. All in all, we should be pretty safe. Even without the three tagalongs, the mercenary and I could handle most accidents.]

[While writing this, we have already passed through the pit entrance and begun our descent into exploration.]

[Pit 21 is an old-fashioned "step-type mine." Due to the rarity of the ore, there are no large excavation machines set up here, only a direct staircase leading underground, leaving miners to manually dig with specially designed tools.]

[Therefore, the internal space of this mine should be very small, even cramming just five people in would be very cramped...]

[...]

[That's how it should be]

[But for some reason, after passing through a narrow passage, the area in front of us suddenly opened up, accompanied by a slight breeze.]

[Is this really the Pit 21 I know? It should be, with the low rock ceiling overhead, rats occasionally darting underfoot, and the dim, eye-straining mine lights... these are the most recognizable features of a mine tunnel.]

[As for this unusually large space, perhaps there were subsequent expansions I wasn't aware of.]

[Though this makes sense, I still felt a bit uneasy.]

[Because on the ground, I saw a thin... almost invisible layer of pale red fungal carpet.]

[Finding fungal carpets and moss in a mine is quite normal, but such a slightly pink fungal carpet, I've never seen before.]

[I took a small sample with the intention to hand it to the materials department for analysis once we returned.]

[But for some reason, ever since we went deeper into the mine, the phone signal vanished. Even the virtual network was inaccessible, effectively cutting off contact with the outside world.]

[Though I'm used to it, as signal interruption is the most common occurrence when descending into mines, one of the photographers was frightened, willing to pay the penalty fee rather than continue exploring downwards, so we had to let him go back first.]

[We'll call it a day here, let's camp above this fungal carpet.]

[...]

[Midnight addition: In the middle of sleeping, I suddenly heard one of the guide dogs from our team barking non-stop. When I went out to look, I found it missing, leaving behind only a few tufts of dog fur...]

[Could it have run out due to oxygen deprivation? But no, the instruments showed all data was normal, and even the mice in the cage weren't causing a ruckus. There's no way it was oxygen deprivation or toxic gas. That damn dog... who knows what madness it's up to?]

...

[June 22, 2077, daytime (possibly 9:00 AM, electronic watch affected by magnetic fields, making it somewhat inaccurate)]

[Location: Mine]

[Environment: Temperature 26°C, strong wind, humid]

[We never found that dog in the end.]

[Initially, I wanted to search a bit longer, but the big celebrity was evidently getting impatient, so we had to continue exploring downwards.]

[Before long, we left the spacious camping area and found the path leading further into the deeper mine tunnel.]

[However, for some reason, there were two tunnels here. The one on the left was rather narrow but quite dry, with a slight breeze occasionally blowing out; the one on the right was relatively wide, and the environment was somewhat moist.]

[My initial idea was to take the left path, although it was narrow and inconvenient for descending. Typically, dry and breezy mine tunnels have better ventilation conditions, ensuring no risk of oxygen deprivation.]

[But the big celebrity didn't want to squeeze through the narrow path, so we opted for the right tunnel.]

[Oh well, she's the sponsor after all, as long as she doesn't make any outrageous demands, let's just go along with her wishes.]

[Lastly, there's something I'm unsure whether to note or not...]

[The moment we stepped into the passage, I suddenly felt a chill on my back, so I looked back.]

[Not sure if it was a hallucination or something else, but about ten meters away under the mine light, I seemed to see... a blurry shadow.]

[At first glance, it looked like a person! But upon closer inspection, it seemed like slime, constantly changing shape, with its surface dripping gooey liquid "splatting" off, quite creepy.]

[I wanted to take a closer look, but the thing disappeared as soon as I widened my eyes.]

[Could it be I'm oxygen-deprived? Something doesn't feel right, but the health chip shows all body data is normal.]

[Honestly, I'm starting to not want to continue with these wealthy folks. Decades of experience as an old miner tells me there's indeed something off about this place.]

[But...]

[I need the money, need this payment.]

[My girl is sick, a genetic disease. With my meager salary, even working for the company another twenty years wouldn't afford a shot of the special drug.]

[But with this money and a 90-year low-interest loan, we could barely scrape it together.]

[So... even if the mine collapses, even if I die here, I can't run.]

[Risk my life? Then risk I shall, as long as the pay is good...]

...

[June 22, 2077, daytime (possibly 12:00 PM)]

[Location: Mine]

[Environment: Temperature 31°C, almost windless, severely humid]

[For some reason, as we walked down the tunnel, the temperature kept getting hotter and the humidity rose sharply. I felt like I was soaked in a pot of sticky-hot vinegar, my entire body sticky and hot, emitting a strange fragrance.]

[Could it be leaking underground gas? Can't figure it out.]

[Hopefully, it's not toxic gas; none of us are wearing protective suits.]

[However, after waiting for over an hour, no abnormal conditions appeared in our bodies. If it were indeed toxic gas, it shouldn't take this long to affect us.]

[It should only be gases produced by moss. Apart from making our skin feel a bit itchy, it shouldn't cause much harm...]

[Hopefully not.]

[By the way, the big celebrity seems to have developed a bit of claustrophobia, constantly saying someone's talking to her by her ear, mentioning words like "Master," "Sacrifice," "Offering," sounding paranoid and probably a bit mentally unstable.]

[I initially advised her to go back, but she countered it would make great program content, guaranteeing high ratings later, so she insisted on continuing downwards.]

[No choice, so we proceed.]

...

[June 22, 2077, daytime (possibly 6 PM)]

[Location: Mine]

[Environment: Temperature 33°C, windless, severely humid]

[After walking approximately nine hours, we finally reached the end.]

[For some unknown reason, our path was blocked by a massive metal door ahead. This door appears to weigh at least hundreds of tons. Without a key, opening it was impossible.]

[Initially, I thought we should leave then but the woman acted all mysterious... then suddenly turned to us and said...]

[The Master tells me— "You may come no further. To cross, one must offer an eye, chew it to bits, and sprinkle the bloody froth into the ground as a 'feeding' ritual to unlock the door..."

[In plain terms, someone needs to dig out their eye, chew it, and spit it on the ground.]

[Damn... this is too bizarre! What kind of door opens like this? It's absurd, only an idiot would believe it, right?]

[...]

[As I thought this to myself, I then realized]

[That woman and her bodyguard were looking at me...]

[Damn...]

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