Days after the mysterious dungeon's appearance, the Korean Hunters Association scanned and marked it as a D-rank dungeon.
Seoul - Korea
Lee Minho, currently the weakest E-rank hunter ever known, came to partake in a dungeon raid.
This world only recognized power. S-rank hunters, cherished and idolized by all for raiding dungeons and protecting people. The Great Saviors.
A bitter lie.
Low rank hunters were the real saviors. All the S-ranks ever did was brag, sit in offices, enjoy everything good life had to offer.
Minho had seen the world for how cruel it could be. A gangster father who abandoned and never cared about his mother and him. A humiliating disapproval for every job he tried to get. A slap in the face for being the bottom of the barrel even as an E-rank. He had nothing except himself and his mother. He had to survive, for his own, as well as his mother's sake. Nothing more.
"Oi, you bastard! Are you just gonna stand there or are you following us in?!" A man yelled at Minho. Dohwan, C-rank hunter and captain of the raid team.
"S-sorry, sunbae." Minho jolted. He was the one who held the bags.
"Just stay behind and pick up the mana crystals after we finish, understood? Don't be too useless." A lady said, calmly, as she walked past him. Soojin, C-rank mage.
"Understood." Minho replied, carrying the heavy load as he walked after her.
The three of them, alongside four other hunters, entered the 'D-rank' dungeon.
"We'll be quick, eh. Nothing a couple of C-ranks can't do in a mere D-rank dungeon, right?" Dohwan chuckled.
Minutes passed, wolves and insectoids had been slain. Minho followed every single corpse, removing the pebble-like mana crystals from each.
The dungeon seemed long and deep. After defeating what seemed to be the dungeon boss, they stretched, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
In an instant, the mana in the dungeon became denser and intense, leaving everyone in a state of alarm. The dungeon started to rumble.
"Dohwan, what is this?" Soojin managed to say, fear creeping into her soul.
"I don't know." Dohwan replied, gritting his teeth.
"Leader, th-there is an opening... By the wall." One of the the team members pointed at what was supposed to be a dead end in the dungeon. A crack on the wall, widening as the entire place shook.
Dohwan was too scared and couldn't man up to the task. He turned to Minho. "Hey, bastard."
Minho was busy, trying to get as much mana crystals as he could, despite the commotion. "Yes, Sunbae?" He replied to Dohwan.
"Leave those crystals and go check this out." Dohwan commanded, pointing at the crack which was now wide enough for two people to enter at the same time.
"O-okay." Minho walked slowly to the crack. The closer he got, the lower the rumbling.
The other team members looked at each other.
The rumbling stopped as Minho stood right in front of it. "Uh, sunbae, it's a bit too dark," he turned to face them. "Since it's stopped, wh—" The word never fully left his mouth when his eyes widened in terror as Dohwan drove his sword into his stomach.
"Yo!" Dohwan said, an evil smile playing on his lips, mirrored by everyone else, including Soojin. "Thanks for the service." He pulled out his sword and stomped Minho into the dark space. The crack immediately sealed shut.
Minho lay in the dark space, blood pooling, tears falling freely. "What did I even do wrong?" He muttered, his voice cracking miserably. "I... I did what they asked. I... I p-picked the crystals. I g-got the cores, I wasn't a... burden, was I? No. But... Why? Why? Why? WHY?!"
His voiced echoed in the space as his sobs mixed with painful groans. A strong sense of anger boiling in him. "The weak... Because I'm... one of the weak ones. They... get to d... dispose of me as they w-wish. Tch." He placed a shaky hand on the injury.
"I don't want to die yet. Who... Who's gonna take c... care of mom? Somebody... just... Arghh... I hate this world. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it... I swear... If I survive this... I'll kill you all... I'll fucking kill you all! Ackk!" He coughed out blood as the injury stung. He didn't even know if his vision was blurring or not, because of the darkness. But he couldn't muster up even a single word. This was the end? So soon?
His mind spiraled. 'I want to live... I want to show them... I want to break every person that ever hurt me...'
This was not a prayer to any benevolent god. It was a vow. Like he was declaring war against fate itself.
A presence descended upon the dungeon. The dark space immediately became visible as torches on the walls started to ignite in crimson flames, revealing a palace like design, with dragon carvings of different styles in different places, from pillars to walls to the marble floor to the single throne ahead of the dying hunter.
This presence felt like a pressure before a volcano erupts. The silent, world-ending impact of a meteor. It was Primordial Destruction.
A voice echoed in his mind. It was a voice of undeniable truth.
"YOUR RAGE PLEASES ME. YOUR HATRED IS A PERFECT FUEL. YOU WISH FOR POWER? NOT THE POWER TO SAVE. NOT THE POWER TO PROTECT. YOU WISH FOR THE POWER TO DESTROY."
Minho had no voice left to answer. But his soul screamed YES.
"THEN I GRANT IT. BECOME MY VESSEL. BECOME THE HERALD OF ANNIHILATION. YOUR PATH WILL BE OF ASH AND OBLIVION. EMBRACE THE VOID WITHIN, AND LET IT CONSUME ALL."
Agony, a thousand times worse than the physical wounds, erupted from his core. It felt like his soul was being disintegrated and reforged in a continuous process. His muscles seized, his back arching off the ground as raw, destructive energy flooded his veins, burning away his humanity.
The last thing Minho saw or heard, before everything went blank was,
[Ding!]
[A new power acknowledges your will to survive.]
[You have been chosen as the Emissary of Destruction.]