The dungeon did not appear with sirens.
No alerts.
No evacuation zone.
It just opened up a crack in the air under an old empty subway station. This crack was vertical. It swallowed up all the light and sound and everything else, around it.
Kang Ji-Hoon felt it the moment he stepped onto the platform. He knew something was different about Kang Ji-Hoon being. Kang Ji-Hoon had a feeling when Kang Ji-Hoon was, on the platform.
The pressure.
The hunger.
[Hidden Dungeon Detected]
This is not classified properly. It is listed as unregistered.
The rule is that one person may enter at a time so you have to go in by yourself. This rule says that only one may enter it does not matter who you are the rule is one person can go in. The rule that is applied is that only one may enter.
Ji-Hoon smiled thinly.
The phone is calling me.
The knight just appeared next, to him and he did not call for the knight to be there. The knight was just suddenly standing beside him which was really weird because the knight had not been summoned.
That alone was a warning.
The crack got bigger and bigger. It was really starting to widen out. The crack was. It was getting wider all the time.
Ji-Hoon took a step forward.
The moment he walked in everything just stopped. The world shut down. It was like the whole place came to a standstill the moment he entered.
No exit behind him.
No system map.
No return timer.
The air was really thick. It felt like I was breathing through a cloud of wet ash. The ground under my boots was not hard like stone. It was actually bone. These bones had been stuck together for a long time like hundreds of years. The bone on the ground was fused together over centuries. The bone, under my boots was old bone.
A whisper crawled through the darkness. It was really quiet. You could barely hear it but that whisper was definitely moving through the darkness slowly and quietly the darkness.
Not sound.
Intent.
The rule is that no one is allowed to watch. This means that there are no witnesses. The condition is very clear: no witnesses are allowed to be present.
[External Assistance: Forbidden]
Ji-Hoons chest felt really tight all of a sudden. Ji-Hoon could feel the tension in his chest. It was, like something was squeezing Ji-Hoons chest. It would not let go.
Healing would not be complete it would have limits. The process of healing would be restricted in some way even healing would be limited.
The man said "Figures" to himself in a voice.
I saw something move. It was something that moved. Something really moved.
Fast.
He just managed to get out of the way as a claw came through the air where his head was a before. It hurt a lot when the claw cut across his shoulder. He could feel the blood spreading all over his sleeve. The pain from the cut, on his shoulder was really bad.
The creature came out into the open. It was the creature that emerged from wherever it was hiding. The creature was now out, in sight.
Too many limbs.
No face.
The things body was all twisted up like reality had not made up its mind about what it was supposed to be. The body of the thing was really weird it looked like reality had not decided what the thing was yet. The things body looked very strange.
Ji-Hoon did not shout.
The man ran. He was running fast. The man kept on running.
Not away.
Sideways.
The knight got in the way. His shield broke into pieces when it hit something. The metal made a loud noise as it was thrown into the wall. The knight and his shield took a hit. The metal was screaming in a way as it crashed into the wall.
Ji-Hoon felt it. He knew something was not right. Ji-Hoon felt it deeply. Ji-Hoon could not explain what Ji-Hoon felt. Ji-Hoon was very sure that something was off.
The man felt pain through his body. It was like his bones were aching. The pain echoed in his bones.
The Legion Unit is damaged.
[Feedback Transfer: Active]
We have to share the damage as well. This means that the damage is not just limited to one person we all have to share it. The damage that we are talking about is something that affects us all so it is only fair that we share it. We have to deal with the damage and that is what we are going to do. The damage is something that we all have to share.
Good.
That meant the people shared survival, the survival that they needed to stay alive. The survival was very important, for them.
Ji-Hoon led the monster deeper into the corridors. These corridors were made of ribs and skulls. Ji-Hoon took every step carefully. He made sure that every breath he took was controlled. Ji-Hoon was, in charge. He was forcing the monster to go where he wanted it to go. The monster had to follow Ji-Hoon through the corridors made of ribs and skulls.
When the creature lunged again it was really scary. The creature was coming at us. I was so afraid of the creature. What was the creature going to do to us? The creature just kept coming.
Ji-Hoon slid beneath it. Then he pushed his blade upward into a big lump of flesh that was moving and pulsing. The flesh was all squishy. It was moving around but Ji-Hoons blade just kept going upward. Ji-Hoon was really sliding under this thing. His blade was going into the flesh.
The monster let out a loud scream. The monster was so upset that the monster screamed again.
The sound wasn't noise.
It was madness.
Ji-Hoons vision got all blurry. Blood started pouring out of his nose.
[Sanity Threshold: Warning]
The knight did something on his own. He grabbed the monsters limb. He ripped it off with a lot of force. The knight was very strong when he did this. The knight used force to rip the monsters limb off. The monsters limb was torn off by the knight.
The black ichor was, over the walls. It was a mess. The black ichor had splattered everywhere.
The dungeon really. Trembled. It was like the whole dungeon was moving. The dungeon was trembling much that it was scary. The dungeon trembled again and again.
More shapes moved in the dark. I mean it was really dark. You could not see a thing but still more shapes moved in the dark. These shapes they were around and they kept moving slowly in the dark.
Not one.
Many.
Ji-Hoon laughed. It was a laugh and he was really breathless.
That is the game. It is really the game. The game is what it is.
Time is really slipping away. Minutes do not seem to mean anything anymore. Minutes just do not have the meaning that minutes used to have.
Time became about managing pain.
Ji-Hoon fought until his hands went numb. He fought until his blade was all chipped. His legs were so tired they nearly gave out. Ji-Hoon used some nasty traps to catch his enemies. These traps were made from bodies. He would make arches out of bones that would collapse on people. Ji-Hoon even used severed limbs as bait to lure people into his traps.
He stopped counting the number of people he had killed.
The knight got down on his knees at some point. The knight knelt.
The armor has cracks over it. These cracks are spreading across the armor. The armor is not looking good because of these cracks. The cracks are, over the armor.
[Legion Core Integrity: 41%]
Ji-Hoon dropped down to one knee beside the thing.
He said this quietly "You fall I fall." Then he added "So do not fall."
The knight got up slow. The knight took his time to stand up.
One arm missing.
My shield is completely destroyed now. The shield that was protecting me is gone.
Still standing.
The final chamber was waiting for me. It was the room and I was not sure what to expect from the final chamber. The final chamber was very quiet.
A throne of fused skulls.
Something was sitting on the thing. The thing had something on it. Something was there, on the thing.
Not a monster.
A judge.
[Hidden Boss: The Nameless Executioner]
[Condition: Only the Worthy May Leave]
The Executioner stood up. He was dragging a big blade across the floor. This blade was really long it was even longer, than Ji-Hoons body.
No roar.
No introduction.
I am just walking forward towards death. Death is all that's, in front of me. I am moving forward. That is where death is. Death is what I am walking towards.
Ji-Hoon was really scared. He felt a lot of fear. Ji-Hoon felt fear when something bad happened to Ji-Hoon. Ji-Hoon did not like the feeling of fear that Ji-Hoon had.
Real fear.
Then—
The System spoke differently than it did before. The System used to sound one way. Now The System sounds another way.
[Legion Authority Override – Temporary]
The host has to pay for everything. This is a rule that the host must follow. The host is the one who has to bear the cost.
Ji-Hoon did not hesitate.
"Do it."
The man felt a kind of pain that he had never felt before. It was, like nothing he had ever experienced. This pain was really bad. It tore right through the man. The pain of the man was very severe.
Memories came back. They were not his memories.
Battlefields.
Orders given.
People live their lives without any regret. Lives, like that are really something. When you think about it lives spent without regret are the kind of lives.
The knight stood up straight.
The armor fixed itself. It had a really old and dull glow to it. A big banner showed up behind the armor. This banner was all torn up. Had blood all, over it. It was waving around like it was blowing in the wind. There was no wind at all.
The Executioner just stopped there.
For the first time—
The thing knelt down.
[Authority Recognized]
Ji-Hoon staggered forward. He drove his blade straight through the Executioners core. The Executioner was badly hurt now because Ji-Hoon had stabbed him with the blade. Ji-Hoon and the Executioner were, in a bad fight. Ji-Hoon had used his blade to hurt the Executioner very badly.
Then there was silence.
The dungeon came crashing down. The whole thing just fell apart. The dungeon was no more.
Ji-Hoon was thrown back into the subway station. He started coughing. He was coughing up blood. It was splattering onto the cracked tiles. The subway station was a rough place and now it was even worse with Ji-Hoons blood all over the floor. Ji-Hoon was, in a lot of pain. He was still coughing up more blood onto the cracked tiles.
The dungeon crack sealed itself like it was never there to begin with. The dungeon crack just closed up. That was it.
No witnesses.
No records.
The knight stood behind him. He was okay again but something, about the knight was different now.
A faint symbol burned on its chest.
[Legion Authority Sync: 1.8% → 3.5%]
I have been given the title of Lone Executor
Ji-Hoon lay back. Stared at the ceiling. He was laughing,. It was a weak laugh. Ji-Hoon just kept looking at the ceiling a smile, on his face as he laughed some more.
"…Brutal enough."
Far away the alarms finally went off.
Too late.
The dungeon had completely vanished. The dungeon was no longer there.
The boy who walked into the place was, like that too.
End of Chapter 6