In this world, everyone has a weakness.
Weaknesses are the ropes that tie everyone down. For some, it could be family, friends, or a lover.
Mine was different. I could do nothing when my five-year-old brother went missing in a dungeon for an entire week.
I am Juan, an E-rank hunter. I had no powers, so no guild would give me work. I was left to do mining alongside other D- and E-rank hunters.
The world had once been beautiful, a place where people lived in peace. But that peace shattered suddenly. I remember being on a trip with my parents, with my younger brother Kin sitting beside me in the car, and Mom beside Dad. Dad was singing while driving, when suddenly the car stopped.
When we stepped outside, the first gate opened. Countless creatures emerged. They looked like dogs but had wings, and their bodies were enormous—bigger than a car.
In the blink of an eye, those creatures devoured my parents as they tried to protect us. By some stroke of fate, we managed to hide while the creatures' attention was elsewhere, and we were later rescued by the military.
After that, people began to awaken as hunters and healers. Everything changed. The government lost power, and now the country was ruled by hunter associations. Two years had passed since that day.
But one week ago, something horrible happened. I went to a dungeon with my five-year-old brother to clean it.
"Kin, stay with this uncle until I finish my work," I said, handing Kin to one of the men who always took care of him while I worked.
"No! Brother Ju!" Kin clung to me, crying and refusing to let go.
I had to leave him with the uncle. I had no choice.
"Why does this jerk even come here to do a mining job? He's useless. He should find work suited for him, yet he wants to steal ours too," I heard whispers as I entered the dungeon. Their eyes glared at me like I had stolen something from them.
Inside, I suddenly fell forward, scraping my cheek. Someone had pushed me. I glanced back and saw the same D-rank hunter who had spoken about me outside. He had kicked me.
I had to swallow my pride. That was the only way to stay safe. If something happened to me, what would happen to my younger brother?
Trying to focus, I began mining the mana stones. Then I heard a cry. I looked up and saw Kin running toward me, tears streaming down his face. One cheek was red. My heart sank. Could the uncle have hit him just for crying?
I dropped my shovel and ran, but the D-rank hunter grabbed Kin by the collar, making him cry even louder.
"Let go of my brother, right now!" I shouted. My patience had run out. I didn't care what they did to me. The moment they touched him, they had crossed the line.
I rushed at the hunter, but he raised his hand, using his powers to hurl me to the ground.
"Look at you, getting impatient just because I have this little chick. Should I kill him? Or just let him suffer?"
All the other hunters there attacked me. Their kicks broke my limbs, and blood poured from my mouth.
One hand covered my mouth, but my eyes never left Kin. Then I saw it—the hunter threw my brother deep into the dungeon.
I crawled past the other hunters, desperate to reach him. I grabbed Kin, but when I turned him over, his eyes were closed.
Then I felt it—immense mana, radiating with unbelievable strength from deep within the dungeon. Hadn't the hunters already cleared this place? And it was only a B-rank dungeon. How could the mana here be so powerful?
Before I could process it, darkness consumed my vision, and I passed out.
The next moment, when I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in a corner. Quickly, I sat up. Kin was nowhere to be seen—and the most shocking thing of all was that everyone else who had been mining in the dungeon was dead.
I was in shock, but even more than that, my heart screamed only one question: Where was my brother?
Before I could search, guild members arrived. They gathered the corpses and took me with them.
They suspected me of killing the other hunters. But when they checked my rank and found I was only E, their suspicion wavered. Whoever had killed those hunters had to be at least S-rank. Still, they weren't sure whether the culprit was a hunter or a monster.
"Sir, did you find my younger brother? I've been asking you about him for days, but you keep dodging my questions and locking me here," I said.
They didn't even allow me to leave the hospital ward. For a whole week, I was confined. Then finally, they let me go. That was when they told me the truth.
They hadn't found my younger brother. They assumed he must have died in the dungeon that day.
But I did not believe them. I decided I would go back to that dungeon and check for myself. I knew Kin was alive. He could not die and leave me alone.
When I arrived, the dungeon gate was still open, though hunters were not allowed inside because the site was under investigation. I glanced both ways, then slipped in.
Inside, everything was the same. Dried blood stained the ground—proof of the hunters who had been killed. I swallowed and moved forward.
The deeper I went, the darker it became. There were no torches, and the shadows closed in around me. Then I heard breathing—somewhere ahead and above me.
My heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, the darkness vanished as the torches along the walls flared to life.
I stumbled back and fell to the ground when I saw what stood ahead.
A beast—black as shadow—towered before me. Its eyes glowed crimson, and its massive frame radiated power.
Was this the dungeon's boss? But the hunters had already claimed to have killed it.
Wait—could it be that this thing had done something to my brother?
"What did you do to my brother?" I demanded. He was enormous, a beast that could crush me in an instant, yet I felt no fear.
The moment the words left my mouth, the creature vanished in a sudden puff of darkness. My eyes widened.
Where the beast had stood only seconds ago, my brother Kin was lying on the ground.