"If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, lives in you, then the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:11)
The moment Park Jae Hyun stepped through the flickering blue light of the portal, he was met with a stench of rusted iron and rotting flesh that burned his throat. As his eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, a shocking vista emerged under the dim light of the torches mounted on the massive stone walls This was not merely a dungeon; it resembled a slaughterhouse. Fresh trails of blood seeped from the crevices in the stones, trickling down the walls as if they were alive. When Jae Hyun looked down at his feet, he saw massive claw marks that had shredded the hard granite rocks like paper. These marks couldn't belong to any ordinary animal; this was a den where savagery reigned supreme.
No matter how much he had evolved or leveled up in the world outside the portal, this eerie silence triggered the deepest, oldest fear in his soul. As he moved on his tiptoes to keep his footsteps from echoing, he could feel the rhythmic thumping of his heart against his ribcage. "I'm still the same," he thought to himself. "Even if I look like a monster on the outside, in this darkness, I am still that lonely child in need of protection."
Just then, a sharp whistling sound pierced the dungeon's air. The hair on the back of Jae Hyun's neck stood on end. Two flaming arrows sliced through the darkness like blades, passing him on both sides. The heat radiating from the arrows grazed his cheek before exploding against the wall behind him, scattering tiny sparks.
His reflexes were faster than his fear. Without a second thought, he threw himself behind the nearest massive, moss-covered monolith. He was breathless as he pressed his back against the cold stone. He cried out in a trembling voice:
Park Jae Hyun= "Hey! What is this place? Hwan... This joke isn't funny at all, man! I want out of here, right now!"
He waited for an answer, but only the sound of dripping water from the depths of the dungeon and his own rapid breathing echoed back. Yet, Jae Hyun was not alone; the shadows leaking from behind the stone whispered the presence of two pairs of eyes watching him Then, a muffled and authoritative voice resonated, feeling as if it were coming from every direction:
Voice=There is no escape from here, Park Jae Hyun. Your fate has been sealed within these dark corridors. Escape is merely an illusion."
Jae Hyun clenched his fists to take a defensive stance. The fear was still there, but it was now joined by a pure instinct for survival. "Hey! Hey, who's there? Show yourself!" he shouted. As he peered from behind the stone, he was unaware that he was about to lock eyes for the first time with the massive figure that would change his life forever
Jae Hyun slowly peered out from the shadow of the massive stone he had taken refuge behind. The figure standing before him resembled an ancient war machine more than a human being The man stood nearly two meters tall. His hair was pulled back in tight, intricate Viking braids, as if he had just emerged from a bloody battle. His left arm was covered from shoulder to wrist in deep, blanched scars; each mark seemed like a story of untold brutality. The long blue bow he held emitted a dull glow in the darkness of the dungeon, and the energy leaking from the quiver on his shoulder made the very air tremble Before Jae Hyun could even react, the man slung his bow across his back and lunged forward with animalistic speed. Faced with this velocity snapping like a bowstring Jae Hyun could do nothing but take a defensive stance. But the punch the man delivered was far beyond human strength. Launched into the air as if struck by a steel sledgehammer, Jae Hyun flew to the other end of the dungeon, slamming into the damp wall.
Man="You are weak," the man said. His voice was like a whisper rising from the depths of a grave.
The man did not stop. He threw a second punch before Jae Hyun could even get off the ground. With every blow, Jae Hyun's resistance cracked like glass. At that exact moment, the air in the dungeon grew heavy, and the facial features of the giant warrior before him began to flicker. The man's silhouette melted and transformed into Alex Kwon the greatest nightmare of Jae Hyun's life This was not just a physical assault; it was a dagger plunged into Jae Hyun's soul. The creature in the guise of "Alex" leaned over Jae Hyun's blood-stained face and began to spew its poisonous words:
Man= Will you spend your entire life trembling in holes like a rat? The purpose of the universe's creation serves something far superior to the existence of a loser like you."
Man= Your mother and sibling... they were left fatherless and defenseless because of you. Your teachers used to loathe you, remember? You are only fit to live as a dog at other people's doors."
Crushed under the weight of these words, Jae Hyun swung a counter-punch, drawing strength from his shoulder in a moment of flash-fire rage. But "Alex" parried this move with a simple motion, as if stopping a child's game. Then, he delivered a blow so violent to the center of Jae Hyun's chest that it felt as if his very lungs were being ripped out.
Crack...
The sound of snapping ribs echoed through the dungeon. Jae Hyun's breath caught in his throat, and warm blood spilled from his mouth. As he collapsed to the ground, his vision began to blur. While the stone floor grew warm with his own blood, he could only hear one final sentence:
Man="Your mother and sibling will be ashamed of you... You will be your father's greatest regret in this world."
Jae Hyun's face was pressed against the cold, blood-stained floor of the dungeon. His consciousness was growing heavy, like a stone sinking to the bottom of a dark sea. That poisonous voice echoing in his ear "You're just a loser"burned his soul like acid. Yet, at that very moment, a curtain was pulled back in the depths of his mind In the midst of the silence, his entire life began to flash by like a film strip. The first slap he received as a child, the mocking laughter in the school hallways, his mother's tired eyes, and the hopeful gaze of his sibling All those insults were now mixing into the blood flowing through Jae Hyun's veins, transforming into fuel.
The creature, standing over him in the image of Alex Kwon, looked down with a derisive smirk, preparing to deliver the final blow: "This is who you are. A coward."
Right then, two silhouettes appeared to the left and right of Alex: Hwan and Seo-ah. Both were covered in blood, having taken heavy blows, with tears streaming down their cheeks. The creature grabbed them both by their collars with its claw-like hands and hoisted them into the air. Jae Hyun's heart nearly stopped. But instead of the scream he expected, he heard a whisper.
Despite their pain, Hwan and Seo-ah looked at Jae Hyun and smiled:
"You can do it, Jae Hyun... Don't give up."
In that instant, the "cowardly child" within Jae Hyun died. In its place, a savage instinct that had been dormant for millennia took over Just as the creature was about to squeeze his friends' throats, an explosion echoed, shaking the dungeon walls. Jae Hyun bolted from the ground with a speed the human eye could not track. His first move was a perfect uppercut that exploded against the creature's jaw. As the creature's head snapped back, Jae Hyun didn't stop; he hammered its ribs with a barrage of lefts and rights He leaped into the air and, using his entire body weight, drove a hard elbow into the creature's abdomen. As the creature bellowed in pain, Jae Hyun released the massive rage accumulated over the years with a roar that tore from his throat. He grabbed the creature by its legs and began dragging it across the dungeon, slamming it against the walls like a rag doll. Stones shattered; the very ground shook Jae Hyun stood tall after hurling the creature to the far end of the dungeon. The energy radiating from his body was no longer just physical strength. A brilliant blue aura began to overflow from his eyes and pores. The energy was so intense that the dungeon air filled with static electricity, and small pebbles on the ground began to float, defying gravity His footsteps shook the earth as he approached the creature and whispered:
"Now... taste death."
With frenzied speed, Jae Hyun grabbed the creature's head and began slamming it into the walls. With every strike, the dungeon shuddered once more. Finally, he gathered all his strength into his right fist. The blue energy swirled around his hand like a storm.
BOOM!
The massive blow he landed on its chest sent the creature hurtling into the deepest abysses of the darkness. Silence fell, but it was not the end. That twisted laugh coming from the dark was the harbinger that the real war was only beginning:
"Beautiful... Now we can truly begin. Demonic Form: Temple of the Demon!"
Within seconds, the stone walls of the dungeon melted away, giving way to pillars resembling human bone and marble the color of dried blood. This was no longer a dungeon; it was an ancient and cursed place of worship. Chains hanging from the ceiling collided with an invisible wind, wailing a metallic dirge The figure emerging from the heart of the darkness was no longer Alex Kwon. The man's body had undergone a horrific evolution:
Appearance: On the shoulders of his giant body, black tattoos appeared, twitching as if they were alive rather than etched under the skin.
Face: His right eye had grown to three times the size of a normal human's, transforming into a glowing red ember. His hair turned stark white in an instant, burdened by the weight of thousands of lived years.
The man took just one step in his new form, and the marble floor beneath him shattered into dust. Before Jae Hyun could even react, the man made a move that surpassed the speed of light. His strike was so sharp that only a black line appeared in the air.
A second of silence... followed by an ear-piercing sound of tearing Jae Hyun's left arm severed from his shoulder with a clean cut and thudded to the ground. Pain flooded his brain like a deluge. As blood sprayed, Jae Hyun collapsed to his knees, but the feral light in his eyes did not fade. On the contrary, the void left by his severed arm was filled by a dark oath rising from his soul:
"I made a vow that day... I WILL NEVER LOSE TO YOU!"
Jae Hyun pushed the pain aside and clenched his remaining right fist. His tattered clothes tore completely under the pressure of his swelling muscles. His body grew even more massive under the influence of a beastly aura. Now, two monsters collided within the bloody temple Their clashes were so violent that with every blow, the temple's pillars were ground into powder. They moved at light speed, tearing each other apart one moment at the corner of the ceiling, and the next in the center of the floor. The man hurled Jae Hyun to the far end of the temple with a right hook and, joining his fingers in the air, whispered:
"Nobility of Red!"
The interior of the temple was suddenly filled with a blinding, blood-red energy. This was not just an explosion; it was a wave that disintegrated everything down to the atoms. Yet, through the smoke, Jae Hyun lunged like a wild animal with claws. His consciousness had completely shut down, replaced by a pure desire to annihilate Jae Hyun fell upon the man like a shadow. He gathered all his strength into a single point and landed a punch on the man's head that warped gravity itself.
CRACK!
The man's head shattered along with the marble wall of the dungeon. Jae Hyun tossed the lifeless body aside like a rag and began to walk away with heavy steps. But at that moment, he felt an ice-cold wind on the back of his neck. When he looked back, he froze:
The man's head had reformed within seconds as black fibers intertwined. This time, his left eye had also transformed into a different shape, filled with geometric patterns. The man made a complex and demonic seal with his hands:
"Supreme Technique: The Devil's Confession."
In the next instant, the man's hand, now turned into a claw, plunged into Jae Hyun's chest, ripping out his still-beating heart.
There was now a horrific void in Jae Hyun's chest. His heart beat one last time between the man's claws and then stopped. As his body succumbed to gravity, tumbling toward the ground in slow motion, his consciousness sank to the deepest depths of darkness As he fell, in the final crumbs of his consciousness, he saw his mother and sibling. They were kneeling in the darkest corner of the dungeon, their hands and mouths bound by thick chains. Drenched in tears, they were worshipping this Demonic Man who had ripped out Jae Hyun's heart, begging for forgiveness. This sight caused a rupture in Jae Hyun's soul far greater than any physical pain.
And at that moment, reality shattered.
A burst of jet-black and purple energy erupted from Jae Hyun's lifeless body, swallowing the blue aura whole. He let out such a wail that the marble pillars of the temple turned to dust. His eyes and mouth were no longer human features, but were covered in a purple light resembling an infinite void A colossal shadow appeared at the top of the dungeon. A four-winged, faceless monster whose sheer majesty made the universe tremble... This being held a Purple Dagger adorned with runes. The monster drifted into Jae Hyun's body like a cloud of mist.
Transformation: Jae Hyun's body expanded with a sickening crack. In place of his severed left arm, a new arm sprouted, shifting from purple to black and covered in glowing tattoos. His muscles became rigid and massive, like serpents living beneath his skin.
The man, who had been certain of his victory moments ago, felt true fear for the first time in his life as he gazed upon this new entity. He stammered in a trembling voice:
"No... It can't be! It's too early... It wasn't supposed to awaken at this level yet! No!"
Abandoning all his power, the man began to flee into the darkness of the dungeon. But for the "New Jae Hyun," time and space were no longer obstacles. Jae Hyun vanished from where he stood and reappeared in front of the man like a bolt of purple lightning.
Before the man could even scream, Jae Hyun grabbed his arms with both hands and tore them both out from the roots as if ripping paper. He forced the man to his knees. Just as Jae Hyun raised his hand to deliver the final blow, a beam of light descended from the dungeon ceiling.
Just as Jae Hyun was about to drive his claw into the man's skull, a flaming hand appeared in mid-air and snatched Jae Hyun's wrist like a steel shackle. The newcomer, with a calm but authoritative stance, was none other than Daniel Choi.
"That's enough, Jae Hyun. Any more will set you on a path from which there is no return."
Daniel brought his flame-covered right hand down upon Jae Hyun's face like a sledgehammer. This blow momentarily put the savage beast inside Jae Hyun to sleep. Jae Hyun's purple aura faded, and his body collapsed into Daniel's arms. The dungeon fell into a profound silence
-
The world was not comprised of just brute force and dungeons; some wars were conducted much more elegantly and in silence. London, a city that had hosted kingdoms throughout history and held a secret in every corner, had awakened that day to its usual grey sky. The fog over the Thames River half-veiled the majestic silhouette of Big Ben In this bustling city, there lived a young man who was among the crowd yet completely detached from them: Jack Lee. Since birth, Jack had been able to see a frequency to which the rest of the world was blind. Pitch-black shadows perched on people's shoulders, glowing streams of energy gliding between buildings, and ancient entities whispering in back alleys... To him, the world was like two different images superimposed on one another. However, this gift brought him loneliness rather than power; whenever he spoke of what he saw, those around him looked at him with either pity or derision Disguised as an ordinary office worker, Jack was making his way to work, clutching his leather briefcase. That day, he carried an unexplainable restlessness within him, feeling a cold breath on the back of his neck The tension in the office was palpable as he entered. The moment Jack sat at his desk, a colleague approached him: "Hey Jack! Dammit man, what kind of document is this? The manager went ballistic when he saw it. You need to fix this immediately, or no one can save you this time!"Jack looked at the paper his friend pointed to with bewilderment, and his blood ran cold. Instead of the financial report he was supposed to submit, he had handed in the dangerous Energy Flow Map he had drawn during a sleepless night, filled with descriptions of the mysterious entities in the city.
The Error: Jack had detailed the entities only he could see using symbols and Latin notes. In the eyes of an ordinary manager, this was either madness or a very dangerous confession With his heart thumping in his throat, Jack went upstairs to the manager's office. As he stood before the door, he caught that familiar, heavy scent of sulfur from within. When he pushed the door slightly open, the sight he beheld shattered his mind The manager stood tall behind his desk. However, he was surrounded by the lifeless silhouettes of parasitic entities beings normally invisible, seen only by Jack. The manager had practically slaughtered them. Pure flames leaking from his hands were drowning the room in a hellish heat.
Jack Lee="Sir... You called for me, I apologize for the document"
He couldn't finish his sentence. With superhuman speed, the manager glided over the desk and lunged at Jack's throat. Jack felt not a hand, but a sharp and burning claw against his neck. As his vision faded, the last thing he heard was the manager's raspy voice:
"So, you are one of them too... You see."
When Jack opened his eyes, he found himself in a damp, dim cellar, chained by his arms. The manager stood before him, but this time he held a seal parchment adorned with ancient runes. The aggression from before was gone; in its place was a face filled with deep sorrow and fear.
Manager: "Yes, Jack, I apologize for greeting you this way. But what we feared has finally come to pass. 'His' return is near... and we cannot stop him alone."
Jack Lee: "I don't understand... Who is 'He'? I'm just... I'm just an ordinary person!"
The manager placed the parchment in front of Jack. The drawing on it was identical to the four-winged purple monster that had appeared in Park Jae Hyun's dungeon.
Manager: "You will understand soon, Jack. This world is much more than it appears, and those 'cursed' eyes of yours are humanity's only hope."