The city was loud and fast.
Cars moved like rivers of metal. Lights blinked on tall buildings. People stared at their phones. Machines talked. Drones flew overhead. Screens showed news, games, and ads — everything moving, nothing still.
In the middle of all this noise, a man walked silently.
His name was Eon.
He wore a black hoodie. His hair was short now. Gray, but clean. His face was calm, a little weathered. He looked like a regular man in his 30s or 40s — quiet, maybe tired. Nothing about him stood out.
And that was the point.
He didn't want to be noticed.
Not yet.
For years, he had lived this way.
Moving between cities.
Changing names.
Living in small apartments.
Reading, watching, waiting.
Because he had felt it coming.
The Rift.
It had opened once before — in the age of stars, long before history.
And now… it was waking again.
That morning, Eon sat in a café near the city center. A steaming cup of coffee sat in front of him. He didn't drink it. He stared at the screen on the wall.
BREAKING NEWS: STRANGE SINKHOLE OPENS IN EAST DISTRICT PARK
Beneath the headline, a video played. Police tape. People screaming. Dust. Broken ground that seemed to swallow a tree.
The reporter spoke quickly.
"…geologists say it's unlike any natural sinkhole. The ground wasn't just broken — it was carved. Officials are still investigating…"
Eon leaned forward.
His eyes narrowed.
"Carved," he whispered.
He had heard that word before.
Thousands of years ago.
When the first dungeon opened.
He left the café without finishing his drink. He walked toward the east district. The streets were full of people, cars, noise. But none of it touched him. He moved like air.
As he neared the park, he felt it.
Pressure.
The air grew thick.
Like it was being pulled downward.
Birds didn't fly here.
Dogs barked and pulled at their leashes.
Something in the earth was alive.
Police had blocked the entrance.
Yellow tape. Officers. Scientists. News vans.
But none of them knew what this really was.
It wasn't a sinkhole.
It was a gate.
A dungeon gate.
And it was open.
Eon watched from a distance.
He saw something shimmer in the air — just for a second.
Like heat waves.
But colder.
Invisible to human eyes.
He touched the ground.
It burned cold.
"It's starting again," he said quietly.
Suddenly, a scream.
From inside the crater.
A young officer had gone too close.
He slipped down the slope and vanished into the shadows.
The others shouted. One tried to go in.
But something hissed from inside.
A low growl.
Not human.
Not animal.
One of the officers fired his gun into the darkness.
The bullet never came back.
Eon stepped forward.
The police shouted. "Sir! Stay back!"
He didn't stop.
He pulled down his hood.
His eyes glowed softly, just for a second — like gold under sunlight.
The nearest officer froze.
"Who… who are you?"
Eon simply walked past him.
The crowd didn't stop him.
No one could.
The ground welcomed him.
It knew him.
He reached the edge of the crater.
The hole was deep — maybe thirty meters.
At the bottom was a glowing circle of symbols, carved into the rock. A dungeon gate, just like the ones he had sealed long ago.
The design pulsed with blue light.
Then red.
Then black.
This one was unstable.
He could feel the hunger.
Something wanted out.
He stepped over the edge.
He didn't fall.
The air beneath his feet held him, like invisible steps. He walked down slowly, ignoring the stares from above.
When he reached the bottom, the symbols flared bright.
The gate opened.
The ground shimmered.
And the dungeon formed.
It looked like a cave, but it was alive.
The walls pulsed.
The air was thick with energy.
Shapes moved in the shadows.
Eon stepped inside.
His boots touched stone, but it felt like flesh.
The first room was empty.
Quiet.
Then came the whisper.
Not in words, but in feeling.
"You are not welcome."
He smiled softly.
"Neither were you."
He raised his hand.
A small spark appeared in his palm.
Then a flame.
Not normal fire — but Origin Flame, the first light.
It lit the cave in soft gold.
And the walls screamed.
Shadows rose.
Monsters — half-formed things with claws and eyes that didn't blink. They rushed toward him, teeth open.
Eon didn't move.
The flame in his hand grew larger.
Then exploded outward.
Not heat. Not burning.
Just pure force.
The monsters were thrown back, broken.
The cave itself shook.
But Eon stood still.
He looked around, eyes glowing faintly.
"This dungeon was formed too early," he said to no one. "You're still unstable."
He walked deeper.
The second chamber was filled with floating orbs of red light. They pulsed like hearts.
Each one was a monster egg.
Each one would birth something unnatural.
Eon touched the nearest orb.
It dissolved into dust.
Then the next.
Then more.
Until the room was clear.
In the third room, the boss waited.
A creature of bone and ash, ten feet tall, with horns and a spiked tail.
Its voice echoed in the cave.
"You are not of this world."
"Not anymore," Eon replied.
The creature lunged.
Eon didn't dodge.
He raised his palm.
The flame returned.
This time, it burned white.
The creature stopped midair.
Its body cracked.
Then shattered into pieces.
The dungeon began to collapse.
Its core had been broken.
Eon turned and walked back the way he came.
As he reached the gate, the ground shook.
The dungeon imploded, folding into itself.
Then silence.
The crater was just… a crater again.
No symbols.
No magic.
Just broken earth.
Above, the crowd had grown.
Phones recorded.
People whispered.
"Did you see that?"
"What happened to the monsters?"
"Who is he?"
Eon climbed out and stood before them.
He looked at the officers.
"It's over," he said. "For now."
He turned to leave.
"Wait!" a voice called.
He turned.
A young woman with a tablet in her hand. Dark hair, sharp eyes. She wore a university badge.
"I… I saw what you did," she said.
He nodded. "You saw too much."
"I'm not scared."
He studied her.
She reminded him of someone.
Talia.
"You'll be needed soon," he said. "What's your name?"
"Rin."
"Rin," he repeated. "Watch the sky. There will be more."
He walked away.
That night, Eon stood on a rooftop.
He looked up.
The stars were clearer now.
And above them, a faint crack in the sky shimmered — almost invisible.
The Rift.
He felt it watching.
But he wasn't afraid.
He had seen it before.
He would see it end again.
This time, he wouldn't run.
This time, the world had changed.
There were dungeons now.
There were systems.
And there were people like Rin — curious, brave, not yet broken.
The war was starting.
And Eon was awake.