The warm morning sun gleamed across the glass facade of the prestigious Silver Fangs Guild Headquarters, the most powerful guild in the eastern continent. Inside the expansive training compound, new recruits were gathering, among them three very different but tightly bonded teens—Juno, Jaemin, and Hanni. Juno's face was calm, but his heart thumped wildly.
This was it.
He was being officially introduced into the Silver Fangs Guild. The memory of the SS-rank dungeon, the monstrous king he felled, the silence that followed—everything had led to this. Jaemin walked beside him with his usual sassy confidence, twirling his staff lazily. Hanni, quiet but observant, flanked Juno's other side, her eyes sweeping the massive open space.
The hall went quiet when the trio entered. Eyes fell on Juno immediately—his status as an E-rank was no secret, and most of the crowd hadn't seen what he was capable of. He could feel the judging stares digging into him.
"Look who they let in," sneered a tall blond boy from the side. "Did they start accepting trash now?"
Juno's gaze shot toward the speaker. He knew that voice.
It was Marcus. His old school bully.
Juno's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Jaemin, however, was not the quiet type.
"Excuse you, Goldilocks," Jaemin purred mockingly. "Did your mouth forget it wasn't worth opening?"
Marcus stepped forward, bristling. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"Your future trauma," Jaemin shot back with a dazzling smile, stepping protectively between Marcus and Juno.
Before a fight could erupt, a firm voice echoed from above. The Guild Master, Jaemin's father, descended the steps.
"Welcome to the Silver Fangs Guild," he began. "Today, we welcome three special recruits. I expect all of you to treat them with respect."
Marcus backed off, but his glare toward Juno lingered. Juno felt the tension ease, but it didn't disappear.
The first week passed in a whirlwind of training, simulations, and strategy. Juno trained in secret most of the time. Though he remained the lowest rank on paper, he was far from ordinary.
But something darker loomed.
Mysterious murders were spreading across the city—ranked hunters were being found slaughtered, their cores missing. Rumors whispered of beasts appearing outside dungeons. Dungeons kings vanishing from their thrones.
"It's unnatural," said one of the senior guild officers during a debrief. "It's like... they're preparing."
Preparing for war.
As all this unfolded, the new transfer student at Juno's school kept a low profile. No name. No background. Just a cold gaze that seemed to follow Juno every time their paths crossed. Hanni once said she saw his shadow move when he stood still.
Juno's system pinged.
[System Notification: New Mission]
[SS-Rank Special Dungeon — The Tower of Shadows]
[Objective: Unknown. Location: Dimensional Rift. Total Floors: 1000. Time Limit: None.]
[Warning: Death chance exceeds 90%. Entry mandatory.]
Juno blinked.
"What?"
[System Override. This mission is essential for your evolution. You must enter.]
Despite his protests, Juno found himself pulled into the void again, and when he opened his eyes, he stood before a colossal obsidian tower floating in a void sky.
[Beginning Floor 1.]
He gritted his teeth and stepped inside.
What followed was a descent into madness.
Each floor was a different nightmare: feral beasts, cursed spirits, labyrinths designed to mentally break him. His sword arm ached, shadows bled from his wounds, his stamina drained, and every breath became harder.
On Floor 17, he was attacked by a swarm of evolved wyverns. On Floor 23, an elven warlord wielding a flame-laced bow nearly ended his life. Floor 30 was worse—a giant three-headed wolf whose howl summoned illusions of Juno's dead parents.
He lost track of time. Blood, sweat, and shadow were the only constants. But each floor, he grew stronger. His stats soared. The shadows he extracted learned to fight with him. But the cost was immense.
When he reached Floor 50, he collapsed after a savage battle against a twin-headed serpent king. He extracted its shadow just before blacking out.
Juno woke up in the Solaris infirmary, hooked to machines, his body bandaged and stitched.
Jaemin sat beside him, arms crossed, looking irritated.
"You nearly died, you idiot. Again."
"Nice to see you too," Juno croaked.
"What the hell is going on with you, Juno? That wasn't a regular dungeon. That was something else entirely."
Before Juno could respond, Hanni entered the room.
"Guild Master wants to see you both," she said. Her gaze was steady. "He knows something's up."
In the guild master's chamber, the air was tense.
"Juno," Jaemin's father said slowly, "I watched the footage from your device. Your abilities... they aren't E-rank. They aren't even measurable."
Juno said nothing.
"I don't know what you are, but I want you in my guild—officially. You and Hanni. Together with Jaemin, I want to form a special operations squad."
Juno looked at Jaemin and Hanni. They both nodded.
"Alright," Juno said. "I'm in."
That night, while resting in the barracks, Juno stood by the window, watching the stars. Something tugged at his senses.
He glanced across the courtyard and saw the mysterious new kid from school staring directly at him.
The boy's eyes glowed briefly—a deep, ancient
red.
Then, he turned and vanished into the shadows.
Juno's skin crawled.
The war hadn't even begun.