The rain fell in sheets as Seun limped through Sector 9's ruins, his ribs screaming with every breath. Blood dripped from a gash above his eyebrow, mixing with the downpour. The System's warnings flashed in his vision like a failing monitor:
**[HP: 37/120]**
**[Stamina: Critical]**
**[Warning: Multiple Fractures Detected]**
He gritted his teeth. *Not yet. Not fucking yet.*
### **The Hunt Begins**
Yuri had led him here—into the collapsed subway tunnels where her team had set the trap. Three D-rank Hunters, all better equipped, all fresh. Seun's knuckles whitened around his chipped dagger.
*They think I'm just another weakling.*
The first attacker came from the left—a wiry man with twin shortswords. Seun barely dodged, feeling the blade graze his side.
**[Combat Analyzed]**
**[Opponent: D-Rank Hunter - Close Quarters Specialist]**
**[Weakness: Overextends on lunge]**
Seun feinted right, then pivoted as the hunter overcommitted. His dagger found kidney. A wet gasp. One down.
The second hunter attacked from behind—Seun barely rolled away as an axe embedded where his skull had been.
*Too slow. Still too damn slow.*
He triggered **[Shadow Step]**—not the flawless teleportation of higher ranks, but a half-second blur that cost him 30% of his remaining stamina.
The axe-wielder's eyes widened as Seun appeared beside him. The dagger strike wasn't clean—it caught between ribs, requiring a brutal twist to finish the job.
**[HP: 29/120]**
**[Stamina: 10% - Movement Penalty Active]**
Then Yuri struck.
### **The Traitor's Blade**
Her boot connected with his wounded ribs. Seun tasted copper as he skidded across broken concrete.
"Pathetic," Yuri spat, twirling her serrated hunting knife. "They said you were changing. But you're still just a—"
Seun's shadow *twitched*.
Not the controlled movements of a master—more like a dying animal's spasm. But it was enough.
Yuri hesitated. That split-second cost her.
Seun lunged, tackling her to the ground. They rolled through debris, her knife scoring across his forearm before he pinned her.
**[Adrenaline Surge: Temporary Strength Boost]**
**[Duration: 47 Seconds]**
"You sold me to Voss," Seun growled, blood dripping onto her face.
Yuri laughed, wild-eyed. "You were disposable then. You're disposable now."
His fist connected with her jaw. Once. Twice. On the third strike, something cracked—her cheekbone or his fingers, he couldn't tell.
**[HP: 18/120]**
**[Warning: Shock Imminent]**
### **The Bargain**
The System chose that moment to intervene:
**[Emergency Quest: "Survival or Vengeance"]**
**[Option 1: Execute Traitor - Reward: +500 DP]**
**[Option 2: Claim Shadow Soldier - Cost: 80% Remaining HP]**
Seun's vision swam. He could kill her now—easy, satisfying. Or...
His shadow *stirred*—not under his control, but like something waking up hungry.
Yuri's eyes widened as inky tendrils crept from Seun's wounds. "W-what are you—"
**"Quiet."**
The shadows struck like vipers.
### **The Transformation**
What followed wasn't graceful. Not like the clean conversions of higher ranks. This was visceral, *messy*—like watching a spider wrap struggling prey.
Yuri convulsed as darkness invaded her mouth, her nose, the knife wound on her thigh. Her screams became gurgles became...
Silence.
When it finished, the creature kneeling before Seun only vaguely resembled Yuri. Her right arm had melted into a blade-like appendage. One eye was now a pool of liquid shadow.
**[New Shadow Soldier: "Yuri, the Broken Oath"]**
**[Rank: D+]**
**[Abilities: Traitor's Instinct (Detects Deception)]**
**[Warning: Unstable Conversion - May Degrade]**
Seun collapsed onto his back, laughing through the pain. The System updated:
**[Shadow Army: 1/3 Capacity]**
**[Next Evolution Requirement: 5,000 DP]**
As darkness claimed him, he heard distant shouts—government cleanup crews arriving too late.
*Let them wonder.*
### **The Aftermath**
He woke in a sterile white room, IV lines snaking from his arms. A suited man sat by the bed.
"Three dead hunters. One missing. And you..." The man tapped a tablet. "Somehow alive."
Seun tested his restraints. "You here to arrest me?"
"Quite the opposite." The man slid a contract across the bedside table. "We want to hire the man who survived Blacksite-7."
Seun scanned the terms. No teams. No oversight. Just dungeons and money.
He took the pen.
**[New Main Quest: "The C-Rank Who Lived"]**
**[Objective: Clear 5 Government-Assigned Dungeons]**
**[Reward: Class Evolution Data]**
Outside the window, his shadow stretched just a little too far across the floor.