The black sedan tore through the mountain pass, the engine screaming as Logan pushed the vehicle to its mechanical limits. Outside, the fog of Mount Chiri was so thick it looked like curdled milk, infused with a sickly purple hue that signaled the dungeon's influence bleeding into the real world.
Inside the car, Han-wool was as still as a statue. He was mentally reviewing the map of the "Abyssal Cavern"—a place he hadn't stepped foot in for thirty years, but one he remembered better than his own childhood bedroom.
"Boss," Woojin whispered, checking the charge on the Star Piercer. "We're five miles out from the GPS ping. But you still haven't told me... who is the person in the trunk?"
Han-wool didn't open his eyes. "The person who is going to make sure we don't get shredded by the High Priest's guardians.
Logan, pull over."
The car skidded to a halt in a secluded clearing. Han-wool stepped out and walked to the back. He popped the trunk.
Inside, sitting cross-legged atop a pile of tactical gear and extra mana cartridges, was a girl who looked like she was made of coiled wire and granite. She had short, messy black hair, a bandage across the bridge of her nose, and eyes that burned with a feral, untamed intensity. She was wearing a tattered gym tracksuit and heavy, iron-shod combat boots.
This was Lee Jin-joo.
"Are we there yet, kid?" Jin-joo asked, her voice raspy. She hopped out of the trunk, cracking her neck with a sound like breaking dry wood.
Woojin gawked. "A girl? Boss, she's just a student! And I don't feel any mana from her at all. She's... she's a civilian?"
"Woojin," Han-wool said, reaching into his vest and pulling out a pair of heavy, matte-gray gauntlets engraved with runes of 'Weight' and 'Compression'. He tossed them to Jin-joo. "Tell him why the 'Iron Flower' of Incheon doesn't need a mana pool."
Jin-joo caught the gauntlets and strapped them on. She punched her palms together, and the air in the clearing actually rippled.
"I don't throw fireballs," Jin-joo said, looking at Woojin with a predatory grin. "I just keep all my mana inside my bones. When I hit something, it stays hit."
The Infiltration: 9:30 PM
"Move out," Han-wool commanded.
The trio began the ascent. They bypassed the main hiking trails, moving through the jagged limestone cliffs where the 'Permanent Dungeon' entrance was hidden. As they neared the summit, the GPS dot on Han-wool's tablet stopped moving. It was stationary, deep beneath the earth.
"Woojin, see that ridge? It overlooks the ventilation shaft. It gives you a clear line of sight into the upper gallery. Jin-joo, you're with me. We're going through the front door."
The interior of Mount Chiri was a nightmare. The Cult had hollowed out the mountain, carving obsidian pillars and altars into the living rock. As they reached the balcony overlooking the main ritual hall, Han-wool looked down.
In the center, Hajin was strapped to an obsidian pillar. Standing before him was the High Priest of the Black Sun, and standing to the side, looking on with greed, was Kim Do-hyun.
"Jin-joo, create a distraction. Draw the guard away from the pillars. I need time to set the charges."
"Three minutes?" Jin-joo smirked. "I'll give you five."
The Shadow's Progression
Han-wool leaped from the balcony, but he didn't land. He had to trigger his sequence perfectly.
[Step 1: Shadow Concealment]
Mid-air, his form blurred and vanished. The cultists below looked up at the sound of a rushing wind, but saw nothing.
[Step 2: Shadow Merge]
As his feet touched the stone floor, he didn't stay solid. He melted into the ground, becoming a flat, ink-black silhouette that raced across the floorboards. He moved past the High Priest's feet, a literal shadow in the dark.
[Step 3: Shadow Decoy]
Near the first pillar, he felt the gaze of a guard. He didn't panic. He triggered the third step. A solid, lifelike image of "Sung Jin-Woo" materialized ten meters away, sprinting toward the exit.
"Intruder! Over there!" the guards shouted, rushing away from the pillars to chase a ghost.
[Step 4: Shadow Jump]
With the path clear, Han-wool teleported. Snap. He was at the first pillar. Snap. The second. Snap. The third. He slapped the Dwarven charges onto the Soul-Stone foundations with mechanical precision.
While he worked, Jin-joo made her entrance. She leaped into the center of the hall.
"Is that all?!" she roared, grabbing a mutated Hobgoblin by the throat and using it as a living club to sweep three others away. Every sword that struck her skin sparked as if hitting tempered steel.
Han-wool reached the final pillar, the one right next to Do-hyun. He was out of "Jumps," and the sequence was nearing its end.
[Step 5: Shadow Sense]
He stood still for a microsecond. Through the shadows of the room, he felt the vibrations of the High Priest's staff—it was gathering mana for a massive AoE spell to kill Jin-joo. He felt the weight of the mountain above them, the structural stress points screaming to be released.
"Woojin! The Shield is distracted! TAKE THE SHOT!"
BANG.
The Star Piercer roared. The azure mana bullet tore through the air, shattering the Priest's shield and punching through his skull.
The hall froze. The Priest was dead.
[Step 6: Shadow Anchor]
Han-wool stepped out of the darkness directly in front of Do-hyun.
"Long time no see, Brother," Han-wool whispered.
Do-hyun's eyes widened. "Han-wool? You—"
Before Do-hyun could draw his sword, Han-wool slammed his hand into the floor. The shadows beneath Do-hyun's boots surged up like iron chains, wrapping around his ankles and waist.
"What is this?! Let me go!" Do-hyun screamed, struggling against the Shadow Anchor.
"You wanted to be the foundation of the family," Han-wool said, his voice cold as he slapped the final charge onto the pillar Do-hyun was anchored to. "Now you can be the foundation of the mountain."
Han-wool grabbed the detonator and looked at Hajin, who was strapped to the pillar just a few meters away. He had used all six steps. The sequence was exhausted. He had to act physically now.
He sliced Hajin's bonds and threw the boy over his shoulder.
"Jin-joo! GET CLEAR!"
He pressed the button.
BOOM.
The four Soul-Stone pillars vaporized. The structural integrity of the Abyssal Cavern vanished. The sound was like the world being torn in half. Thousands of tons of rock and limestone began to collapse.
"Run!" Han-wool roared.
Without the help of his skills—now on a 59-minute cooldown—he had to rely on his enhanced Agility. He sprinted through the falling debris, dodging boulders the size of cars. Behind him, he heard the final, muffled scream of Do-hyun as the ceiling gave way.
A few minutes later, a small pile of rubble shifted at the base of the mountain.
Han-wool emerged, carrying a shaken but alive Hajin. Jin-joo punched her way out of a pile of debris nearby, coughing up dust. From the high gallery, Woojin climbed down, his hands shaking but his grip on the gun firm.
They stood in the ruins. The High Priest was dead. The ritual was shattered. And buried under a hundred feet of rock was the traitor, Kim Do-hyun.
Han-wool looked at the system alert in his retina.
[System Alert]
[Ritual Terminated.]
[Amartya's evolution delayed.]
[New Timeline: 12 Years remaining.]
Han-wool looked at his team—the Sniper, the Shield, and himself, the Thief.
"We finished the first mission," Han-wool said, his red eyes glowing. "But we have twelve years of work ahead of us. Let's get moving before the Association gets here."