"I'm Jin."
There was neither excitement nor hesitation in his voice.
"Don't you have a last name?"
Emma raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him curiously.
"No."
His answer was short.
Emma made no attempt to hide her boredom at the expressionless face of the young man in front of her. She took a deep breath and tapped her slender fingers on her metal staff.
"You're a man of few words. Well, so be it."
Her gaze softened for a moment.
"I've heard about your ability. Let me introduce myself. My superpower is healing... that is, I'm a healer. My power is at the master level, Two Rubies. You can entrust Arkani to me. But I don't have a spare sword, I'm sorry."
Jin bowed his head slightly in understanding.
Emma wasn't just a healer. The reason they called her the "Catastrophe Witch" was because of the dark ability she gained when she reached the third level. A power that could destroy an army on its own... Still, that power couldn't save her in front of the ruler.
Jin turned his gaze from Emma to Arthur. He didn't ask anything, as he already knew his power.
Arthur spoke from where he stood, his hands clasped over his chest. His voice was loud and commanding:
"Emma, Adam, Ahri. Go to sleep, gather your strength."
The others nodded without objection and withdrew to a quieter corner of the cave. Only Arthur remained where he was. After a moment, he turned to Jin and walked toward the exit with heavy steps.
"Come with me. You've rested enough."
Jin rose silently and followed Arthur. As the two waited alertly at the cave's entrance, the cold stone walls echoed their breaths.
Arthur spoke, his eyes fixed on the darkness:
"Tomorrow we'll go deeper into the tunnel and get Luna. I heard she uses a sword. There are a few spare swords with Luna. But for now..."
Suddenly, he raised his arm and threw a small dagger toward Jin.
Jin caught it reflexively in midair, feeling the coldness of the metal against his fingers. The blade was perfectly balanced. He turned his gaze to Arthur.
"Thank you."
Arthur did not respond. He simply continued to stare into the darkness and wait.
****
After a five-hour shift, Arthur and Jin handed over their positions to Emma and Adam.
Jin walked slowly to a dim, damp corner of the cave. As he lay down on the cold, dirty stones, he realized that he didn't care about any of it. It was as if he hadn't cared about anything for a long time.
But his mind wasn't empty. Amelia had been on his mind the entire time he had been silent, giving nothing away. He didn't know what had happened to her. Was she alive, or had she already...
When he thought about it, his heart tightened with a strange ache in his chest. Still, Amelia was strong. She was smart and determined. She would find a way to survive even in the most difficult situations. He wanted to believe that.
Unwillingly, a smile appeared on his face. Among all the fears running through his mind, only the thought of Amelia had brought him a little comfort. He was about to close his eyes and fall asleep when suddenly he heard a voice echoing in his head:
[STORE OPENED]
He sat up abruptly and called up the system window. His fingers trembling, he quickly entered the menu.
══════════════════════════════
[SYSTEM STORE]
══════════════════════════════
Ruby Quantity: 0
Store Points: 0
══════════════════════════════
[GENERAL PRODUCT CATEGORIES]
🔹 Weapons
🔹 Armor
🔹 Consumables
🔹 Resources
🔹 Mystery Chests
🔹 Skill Stones
══════════════════════════════
Jin held his breath with excitement. He sat down and tapped the first tab.
══════════════════════════════
[WEAPONS]
🔹 AZURE SWORD (✭✭✭) – 1.000 Rubies or 10.000 Points
🔹 Swallow Sword (✭) – 100 Rubies or 1.000 Points
🔹 Odin's Staff (✭✭✭✭✭) – 10,000 Rubies or 100,000 Points
🔹 Zeus' Lightning Bolt (✭✭✭✭✭) – 15,000 Rubies or 150,000 Points
🔹 Wrath of the Gods (✭✭✭✭✭)-???
═════════════════════════════
His eyes lit up. For a moment, he just stared at the weapons on the list. The star system that determined a weapon's power was dazzling. The highest level was 5 stars… and what he saw here was far beyond the limits of this world.
But he couldn't afford any of them. He didn't even have a single Yakut right now.
Seeing that the system even separated those without money annoyed him.
'Sigh…'
He took a deep breath and switched to another tab.
Consumables.
══════════════════════════════
[CONSUMABLES]
French Bread – 1 Yakut or 10 Points
Soup – 1 Yakut or 10 Points
…
..
══════════════════════════════
He read the names carefully. He had never heard of most of them before.
"French? Russian? Korean? Japanese?"
He didn't know what they were, but at least he was glad they were food.
He didn't know how long he would be here. The food they had brought with them was already very little. Even if the others gave him a few bites, it would be completely gone in a few days.
As for the terrifying and disgusting creatures in the sewer, even if he wanted to eat them, their flesh was dirty and poisonous.
This thought made his heart ache. Hunger and uncertainty. Still, as he looked at the store window, a strange glimmer of hope appeared in his heart.
Maybe… one day he would be strong enough to take all of this.
He wasn't thinking of sharing this with anyone right now. It was his secret alone. And he knew that if he told anyone, it would raise too many questions. Maybe one day he would find the right time, or maybe he would never tell anyone. Until then, he would have to come up with different excuses.
He took a deep breath. Slowly, he laid his head on the hard, cold ground. As his weary eyelids closed, his mind sank into a hazy silence.
****
Luna had been running for hours, fleeing from a horde of monsters rushing behind her like a flood. With every step, her breath grew shorter, her lungs burning as if they would burst from her chest. Her legs felt like dead weight. She was struggling not to run, but simply to stay on her feet.
As she rounded the dark bend in the tunnel, her foot caught on a rock. She lost her balance and stumbled forward. She reached out her hands to brace herself against the ground, but her arms had no strength left. A hard blow shook her shoulder as her face hit the stone floor. Warm blood began to flow from her nose.
For a moment, he struggled to stay on his knees. He pressed his trembling hands against the ground and tried to lift his head. But his entire body was exhausted from the hours of escape, fear, and hunger.
It was as if the last spark inside him had gone out in that moment. His body no longer obeyed him. Even if he wanted to resist, his muscles did not respond to his commands.
His shoulders slumped. Like a puppet whose strength had been drained, he slowly fell to the side and finally lay on his back.
He looked up at the cracked stone ceiling of the tunnel. The dark, dirty walls seemed like a tomb to him. For a moment, a blue sky appeared before his eyes. A cool breeze, a sparkling morning...
This was the scene he had imagined dying in. But his wish would not come true.
His eyelids grew heavy. The footsteps of death mingled with the footsteps of monsters. They were approaching.
His heart was still beating. He was still afraid. He didn't want to die. Tears streamed from his eyes. Even as his whole body gave up, a part of his mind screamed, "No... Not yet..."
He wiped away his tears with trembling hands. He tried to find one last bit of courage. He parted his lips.
"Get up..." he whispered to himself. "Get up..."
With all his willpower, he raised one arm. Then the other. A mixture of fear and determination spread across his face. He would not die. At least, he would not surrender without dragging a few of the creatures that had come to kill him to hell.
He clasped his hands together in front of him. The magic circle trembled and began to take shape in the palm of his hands. He gathered the last drop of his strength. Just as he was about to activate the spell—
A hand emerged from the darkness and grabbed his shoulder. Luna was about to scream, but that cold hand quickly pulled her back. Another hand covered her mouth from behind.
Her heart was pounding wildly. The monsters passed by them once more, their footsteps echoing through the tunnel.
She tried to push the hand covering her mouth away with her hands, but she didn't have the strength. Her chest rose and fell. She just wanted to breathe. Just as she was about to give up, she heard a low voice in her ear:
"If you don't want to die, be quiet."
Luna closed her eyes and shook her head. The hand covering her mouth slowly withdrew. As she inhaled the air, her throat tightened. She couldn't speak.
She opened her eyes. She turned her head slightly, but darkness had swallowed everything. She couldn't make out anyone. The clacking of the monsters' thick claws passed so close that she held her breath. The foul smell of one of them hit her face.
But none of the creatures noticed the two humans standing there.
"What's happening…?" he thought, his heart still pounding wildly.
When the last monster vanished into the darkness, he finally managed to move. He blinked, bringing his hand to his bloodied nose. He paused for a moment, trying to steady his breath. Then, turning to the person who had helped him, he whispered in a hoarse voice:
"Thank you…"
The voice that replied was a woman's. Beautiful but cold, as if it belonged to someone who hadn't shared any emotions in years:
"It's nothing."
The woman's voice paused for a moment. Then a commanding sentence echoed:
"If you want to live, follow me. And be quiet."
Luna bowed her head. She had no other choice. She silently fell into step behind her.
For ten minutes, they walked through the darkness of the tunnel. Neither Luna nor the woman who had saved her spoke. She walked with only the fragile hope of survival. Her body ached terribly, but she had no choice but to keep walking.
The figure ahead stopped in front of one of the damp stone walls of the tunnel. She made a hand gesture to Luna, signaling her to stop. Luna held her breath and stayed where she was, watching carefully.
The mysterious stranger raised her hand to the wall. Her palm gently touched the stone surface. For a few heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, the wall began to tremble as if waking from a deep sleep.
Luna's eyes widened. The entire surface rippled in waves. The texture of the stone dissolved, its solid form gradually fading away. Ten seconds later, the wall had completely vanished—as if it had never been there at all.
He took a mouthful of cold air. Before them, a dark, unknown passage had opened up.
The stranger turned his head slightly toward Luna. From within the shadows, an expressionless voice was heard:
"Aren't you coming?"
The voice was strange. It carried neither anger nor mercy. It was spoken calmly, like an invitation.
Luna hesitated for a moment. Then she silently shook her head and took a step forward. Her legs were still trembling. Following the stranger, she entered the passage where the wall had disappeared.
Behind her, the stranger raised his hand again. The stone waves gathered together and returned to their original place. Now the wall looked solid again—but the two of them were inside it.
Luna looked around curiously and asked the stranger.
"Where...is this?"