Chapter 5
The Gate yawned before them like a tear in the fabric of reality, its violet edges twisting and writhing, pulsing as if alive. Stepping through was like plunging into icy water — and when the dizziness passed, they found themselves standing not in some barren wasteland of monsters, but inside… a castle.
The air shimmered with golden light. Towers stretched high above, their walls glimmering with crystalline veins of mana. Treasure piled in radiant heaps — mounds of gold coins, rivers of silver, jewels scattered like stars across marble floors. Ancient statues lined the hall, their jeweled eyes watching silently as if guarding their hoard.
The hunters stopped dead in their tracks.
"This… is this really a Gate?" one of the A-rankers whispered, his voice trembling.
"It's…" another stammered, unable to finish.
The miners dropped their tools in shock. Even hardened veterans who had stepped into countless dungeons stood frozen, their eyes wide at the impossible sight.
Renji's breath caught in his throat. "Choji… is this what Gates are really like?" His voice was soft, filled with wonder. "It's beautiful. Everyone makes Gates sound like death… but this…"
Choji rubbed the back of his neck, equally stunned. "Renji-san… I've seen a lot of dungeons, but never… never anything like this. Gates are supposed to be nests of death, crawling with beasts. This—" he gestured to the shimmering expanse "this feels like a dream."
But not everyone was fooled.
Tang Shi stepped forward slowly, his cold eyes sweeping the hall. He knelt, touching the marble floor, then glanced toward the glittering walls. "No. This is wrong." His voice was like a blade cutting through the awe. "Mana is leaking everywhere… waves pulsing from the shadows, from the very stones. This is no gift. This is a trap."
The warning barely registered. One of the A-rankers had already broken into a greedy grin, his hands twitching.
"Trap? You think too much, Tang Shi," he sneered, his eyes fixed on a mountain of gold and magic gems stacked against the wall. "Look at this! With just one pile, I could set myself up for life. I'll never have to risk my neck again… women, wine, luxury — it's all mine!"
"Wait—!" another hunter barked, but it was too late.
The A-ranker sprinted across the hall, greed blazing in his eyes. He dove into the glittering treasure, scooping gems into his satchel, laughing hysterically.
Then —
Shhk!
In a blur of movement, something lashed out from the shadows. A claw, black and skeletal, moved faster than the human eye could follow. The laughter was cut off instantly.
The hunter's head hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling across the marble, his eyes still wide with greed. His body crumpled into the golden mound, staining it red.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then chaos.
Screams erupted. Miners stumbled back, some collapsing, their tools clattering to the ground. Hunters drew weapons, their eyes darting frantically across the room.
Renji stood frozen, his stomach twisting violently, bile rising in his throat. It happened so fast… too fast.
Choji shoved him behind, raising his weapon. "Stay close to me!"
Tang Shi didn't flinch. His lips curled into the faintest smirk.
"I knew it."
His eyes glowed faintly, a pale silver radiance piercing the gloom.
"Skill: Infinite Tracker."
The castle seemed to shift around him as the skill took effect. To Tang Shi, the world was no longer marble and treasure — it was threads of mana, lines of movement, the hidden pulse of predators in the dark.
"Fifty," he whispered, eyes narrowing. "No, fifty-one. All around us."
The air grew heavy. A low hiss slithered through the halls.
From the shadows crawled the creatures twisted ghouls, their skin like rotten leather stretched thin over jagged bones. Their eyes burned with sickly green light, their jaws snapping with hunger. The one that had killed the A-ranker licked its claws, growling low.
Then, with a deafening screech, they charged.
The hunters faltered — but Tang Shi moved.
In a blur of motion, his dual daggers flashed like lightning. His body twisted and spun with lethal grace, every step calculated, every strike final. A ghoul leapt — its head rolled on the floor before its claws ever reached him. Another came from behind — Tang Shi's blade carved through its skull without him even looking back.
The S-rank moved with terrifying precision, his skill locking on to every hostile presence before it even struck.
One by one, the ghouls fell. Heads rolling. Claws shattering. Limbs severed.
"Come at me," Tang Shi snarled, his glowing eyes cutting through the horde.
And they did.
But none survived.
Seeing the S-rank carve through the monsters lit a fire in the rest.
"Damn it! If he can do it, so can we!" an A-rank shouted, brandishing his spear. The others followed, rallying together, their mana flaring as they charged the horde.
The chamber became a battlefield of light and blood. Steel clashed, magic flared, ghouls shrieked and fell in heaps.
Renji ducked low, swinging his pickaxe wildly when one of the creatures lunged near. The blow barely scratched it, but before it could retaliate, Choji was there, his sword cleaving through its skull.
"Stay with me, Renji-san!" Choji yelled, panting. "I'll handle them, you just keep your head down!"
Choji wasn't fast, not like Tang Shi, but his strikes were steady and deliberate. Every swing of his blade carried the weight of determination, his body moving instinctively to shield Renji
To Renji, it was chaos. Death everywhere. Screams. Blood. The smell of burning mana. But even through the terror, one truth carved itself into his heart:
Choji was fighting not just for himself, but for him.
For the powerless.
As battle waged on the chamber reeked of blood.
Severed limbs of ghouls littered the marble floor, their black blood seeping into the cracks like ink. The once-radiant piles of gold and jewels were now stained crimson, glimmering mockingly in the dim light.
Renj's chest heaved as he leaned against the wall, gripping his pickaxe with trembling hands. His entire body shook — not just from exhaustion, but from the sheer horror of it all. His ears still rang with screams, the sound of steel biting flesh, the shrieks of dying beasts.
Choji dropped down beside him, his blade dripping. "You holding up, Renji-san?" he asked, his voice ragged.
Renji forced a shaky smile. "Y-yeah… barely."
Choji chuckled weakly, clapping him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Told you, I'll protect you, didn't I?"
The warmth of his friend's words was the only thing keeping Renji from falling apart. He closed his eyes briefly, and in that moment, his sister's voice echoed in his mind:
"Onii-chan, promise me… don't ever give up."
His grip on the pickaxe tightened. I can't. Not yet. For Lilly
The survivors regrouped near the grand stairway that wound deeper into the castle. Out of twelve hunters, only eight remained. Three miners had been torn apart in the chaos. The rest huddled in silence, their wide eyes betraying the fear gnawing at them.
One of the A-rankers spat on the floor. "This isn't normal. Gates aren't like this. A treasure hall? Ghouls lying in wait like assassins? This whole place is wrong."
Tang Shi stood apart from them, cleaning the black ichor off his daggers with unnerving calm. His silver eyes flicked toward the stairs.
"The ghouls were bait," he said coldly.
Everyone turned to him.
"What do you mean?"
"They were herding us," Tang Shi explained, his voice low but sharp. "Pushing us away from the entrance… forcing us deeper. Someone or something wants us below."
A chill rippled through the group.
"Are you saying we're being watched?" another asked.
Tang Shi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he slid his daggers back into their sheaths and started walking toward the stairs.
"Follow if you wish. Stay here if you prefer waiting to die."
The Descent
Reluctantly, they moved.
The grand stairway descended into darkness, torches flickering to life as if reacting to their presence. The walls grew narrower, etched with ancient carvings that seemed to writhe in the firelight.
Renji stuck close to Choji, his heart pounding with every step.
"Choji," he whispered, "why are we even going down there? Shouldn't we… go back?"
Choji gave him a faint smile, though his eyes were grim. "If it were that easy, Renji-san, we'd already be gone. The Gate won't let us leave until the boss is dead. That's the rule."
Renji swallowed hard. The boss… He had heard stories. Dungeons always had a ruler, a monster whose defeat closed the Gate. But this? This was no ordinary dungeon.
Tang Shi suddenly raised a hand, halting them. His silver eyes gleamed. "Quiet."
The hunters froze.
The air shifted.
At first it was subtle — a faint hum, like the trembling of strings in a broken instrument. Then the temperature dropped sharply, their breaths turning to mist. A suffocating heaviness pressed against their lungs, and from below… something stirred.
A voice.
Not a word, not a language, but a sound. A guttural murmur, low and resonant, vibrating through the stone beneath their feet.
Renji felt it seep into his bones, cold and invasive. His knees weakened. His vision blurred. For a brief moment, he thought he saw something — a vast shadow twisting in the dark, its presence swallowing the stairway whole.
He staggered, clutching his head.
Choji grabbed him. "Renji-san ! Stay with me!"
---
The Whispering Darkness
Then, silence.
The hum stopped. The heaviness lifted slightly, leaving only the echo of their ragged breathing.
No one spoke. No one dared.
Finally, one of the A-rankers tried to force a laugh. "H-heh… just our nerves, right? Nothing's there—"
Shhhhk.
Before he could finish, his body jerked violently. A long, jagged spike of shadow burst through his chest, dripping with his blood. His eyes widened in disbelief before going glassy.
The hunters screamed.
The corpse was yanked into the darkness below, vanishing as if the stairway itself had swallowed it whole.
Renji's blood turned to ice.
Tang Shi's expression hardened, his silver eyes flaring. "It's awake," he whispered.
Choji clenched his sword tighter, sweat running down his face. He forced a smile at Renji despite the terror in his own eyes. "Looks like this is where the real fight begins."