The world never ended with a bang.It began with cracks.
The sky split open over cities, seas, mountains. At first, people thought it was an earthquake in the heavens—streaks of blue fire, floating shards of light. Then the cracks deepened and bled darkness. Rifts, like wounds in reality, tore open in the middle of busy streets. From them spilled things that had no right to exist: claws dripping with venom, wings made of bone, eyes that glowed like embers in an abyss.
People screamed. Nations panicked. Governments collapsed under the weight of chaos.
That was when the word "dungeon" entered the human vocabulary.
The dungeons were both curse and miracle. Within them lurked nightmares—but also treasures: weapons infused with power, crystals that burned with energy, and strange artifacts that bent the laws of nature. Some people discovered that stepping into a dungeon awakened something in their blood, an ability, a strength beyond human limits.
Those people became known as hunters.
For everyone else, the dungeons were nothing but death.
Dev Arvale never wanted to be a hunter.
He was twenty-two, just another face in the crowd, working part-time at a convenience store and studying on the side. His grades were average, his pay was worse, and the only thing extraordinary about him was the way he always managed to survive bad luck.
Friends? A few.Ambitions? None he could name.Strength? He barely went to the gym once a week.
But fate has a way of ignoring what people want.
It happened on a rain-soaked evening.
Dev was heading home, a cheap umbrella barely shielding him from the downpour, when a vibration shivered through the ground. The streetlights flickered. A car screeched to a stop as asphalt cracked open in front of it. Pedestrians gasped and stumbled back.
Dev froze.
A jagged tear split the middle of the road, stretching wide as if some invisible hand was ripping the world apart. From within came a sound that didn't belong in the city: guttural growls, the scrape of claws, the hiss of something alive.
Someone shouted, "Dungeon! It's a dungeon!"
Panic erupted. People ran. Cars collided in the scramble. Sirens wailed in the distance, but too late—shadows were already spilling out of the rift.
Dev's heart slammed against his ribs. He backed away, his umbrella slipping from numb fingers. His legs wanted to run, but the crowd shoved him sideways. Bodies pressed in all directions, trampling, screaming. He stumbled into the wrong gap between fleeing strangers and fell—straight toward the widening rift.
"No—!"
The world swallowed him.
Darkness.
When Dev opened his eyes, the rain was gone. The asphalt, the cars, the city—all gone.
He lay on damp stone, surrounded by towering walls that pulsed faintly with an otherworldly glow. The air was thick, heavy, smelling of iron and decay.
"…What?" His voice echoed in the cavern.
Above him, jagged stalactites dripped black water. Strange fungi glowed faint green, casting distorted shadows.
He wasn't in the city anymore.He was inside the dungeon.
Dev pushed himself up, heart pounding in his throat. He had seen the news clips, heard the survivor stories. Normal people who got dragged inside dungeons never came back.
"This… can't be happening." His voice trembled.
Then he heard it.
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of claws against stone.
Dev spun around. From the shadows emerged shapes—low to the ground, hunched, with elongated limbs and eyes that shimmered red. Their mouths split too wide, teeth glinting like shards of glass. Three of them.
"Mon… sters." His throat went dry.
The creatures sniffed the air, their gazes locking on him.
Dev's body screamed at him to run, but his legs rooted to the ground. He had no weapon. No ability. No training. Hunters spent years honing their skills before stepping into a dungeon. He was just a cashier who failed half his exams.
The first monster lunged.
Dev barely rolled aside, the creature's claws gouging stone where he had stood. His shoulder slammed against the wall. Pain jolted through him, white and sharp.
I'm going to die here.
He scrambled up, stumbling backward as the creatures circled. His mind raced, searching desperately for anything, any chance. He picked up a broken piece of rock, gripping it like a knife.
The monsters hissed. One darted forward again, faster than his eyes could track. Dev swung wildly with the rock. The impact cracked against the creature's jaw, making it reel back with a screech.
But his hand went numb. The stone clattered from his fingers.
The other two monsters closed in.
Dev's chest heaved. His vision blurred from fear and adrenaline. Every instinct screamed that this was the end.
He thought of his mother, his younger self who dreamed of doing something meaningful, the ordinary life he had clung to. He thought of all the regrets he had buried under excuses.
"No," he whispered, blood dripping from a scrape on his arm. "Not like this. I don't want to die here."
For a heartbeat, the cavern pulsed with faint light.
A voice—not heard with his ears, but resonating inside his skull—spoke.
[ Awakening condition met. ][ Initializing system protocol. ]
Dev's eyes widened. The monsters froze mid-step, as if time itself had slowed.
[ New User Detected. ][ Ability initializing… ]
Pain lanced through his body, searing his veins with fire and ice. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest, choking on a scream. His vision fractured into countless shards of light, symbols and numbers burning into existence around him.
[ Survival Probability: 0.02% ][ Correction: Awakening mandatory. ]
"…What is this?" Dev gasped.
The monsters began moving again, their red eyes narrowing, growls filling the chamber.
[ User: Dev Arvale. ][ Ability unlocked: ??? ]
The text flickered, unstable, as if even the system struggled to define it.
The monsters roared and leapt.
Dev's hand clenched instinctively. For the first time, power stirred in his veins—something alien, something terrifying, something that promised he wasn't as helpless as he thought.
But he had only one second to figure it out.
The cavern thundered with the sound of claws striking stone. Three monsters lunged at once, jaws open, eyes blazing red.
Dev's body moved before his mind could keep up. His right hand clenched, and in his palm, something impossible formed.
A faint shimmer, like liquid glass. Symbols spiraled outward in glowing lines, twisting into shape until it solidified into a jagged blade of light and shadow. It was crude, unstable, flickering as if it might shatter any second.
But it was a weapon.
Dev slashed wildly.
The glowing blade carved through the first monster's chest. Black blood sprayed across the stone, sizzling as it hit the ground. The creature shrieked, staggering back. The other two howled, circling faster.
Dev's breath caught in his throat. His arms trembled from the force. He had never held a real weapon before, never fought anything more dangerous than a stray dog. But the moment he wielded this strange blade, a flood of instincts that weren't his own surged through him.
His vision sharpened. His body felt lighter. It was as if the weapon carried not just power, but knowledge.
[ System synchronization: 7% ][ Ability stabilization in progress. ]
The second monster pounced. Dev ducked low, dragging the glowing blade upward. The strike split its jaw in two. The creature collapsed in a spray of black ichor, twitching violently before going still.
Dev gasped for breath, his chest burning, sweat dripping into his eyes. He barely had time to recover before the last one came at him.
He stumbled back, the monster's claws grazing across his arm. Pain tore through him. His blood spattered onto the cavern floor.
Dev roared, not in fear this time, but in defiance. He swung with everything he had.
The blade pierced straight through the monster's skull.
The beast went limp.
The cavern fell silent, broken only by Dev's ragged breathing. His weapon dissolved into sparks, vanishing from his grasp. He fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding arm.
"I… killed them." His voice trembled with disbelief. His entire body shook. His stomach twisted as bile rose in his throat. He turned and vomited, the acrid taste burning his mouth.
He had survived. But the cost was written in blood on his skin and in the corpses lying only feet away.
The system's voice returned.
[ Combat complete. ][ Survival Probability recalculated. New Value: 12%. ]
The glowing text hovered in the air. Dev blinked through the haze of pain.
"Twelve percent…? That's still low."
[ Reward distribution in progress. ]
Light swirled above one of the dead monsters. A crystal shard floated into the air, glowing faintly. It pulsed with an otherworldly energy before dropping to the ground with a clink.
Dev stared at it.
"…Loot?" he muttered. "Like in the news reports…"
His fingers shook as he picked up the shard. The moment he touched it, warmth spread through his arm, soothing the cut. The bleeding slowed. His breathing steadied.
[ Dungeon crystal obtained. ][ Absorption possible. Proceed? ]
Dev hesitated. His instincts screamed yes, but his fear whispered no. What if it was poison? What if it mutated him? What if…
The choice wasn't really a choice. He was alone, wounded, and more monsters could appear any second.
"…Do it."
The crystal dissolved into his skin, vanishing without a trace.
A surge of energy flooded through him. His wounds knitted slightly, his muscles tightened, and his mind sharpened. He felt… lighter. Stronger.
[ Absorption successful. ][ Synchronization progress: 15%. ]
Dev exhaled, the tension in his shoulders easing for the first time since this nightmare began.
But relief was short-lived.
The cavern shook.
From deeper within the dungeon came a guttural roar that made the walls tremble. A wave of air rushed past him, carrying the stench of rot and sulfur. The corpses of the slain monsters twitched, as if even death wasn't safe here.
Dev's stomach dropped. "That… doesn't sound like a normal monster."
[ Warning: Mini-boss detected. ]
His heart skipped. "Boss? Already?!"
He stumbled backward, glancing around. He had no weapon now, only his trembling hands. The strange blade he summoned earlier had vanished. He didn't know if he could call it again.
"System!" he shouted, desperate. "That weapon—how do I use it again?!"
[ User inquiry detected. ][ Weapon generation available: Chaos Shard Blade. ][ Condition: Focus intent and allocate energy. ]
Dev swallowed hard. He didn't understand half of that, but he forced himself to breathe, to focus. He clenched his fist, picturing the blade forming again.
A flicker of light pulsed. The jagged blade returned, though smaller, dimmer. His body ached from the effort.
"Good enough…" he muttered.
The roar echoed again, closer this time. Heavy footsteps boomed through the cavern.
Then it appeared.
From the shadows emerged a hulking beast twice the size of the others. Its body was layered in bone-like armor, its claws long enough to carve through stone. Its face was a twisted mockery of a wolf, with too many eyes and a jaw that split unnaturally wide.
It stared directly at Dev.
[ Mini-boss: Bonehound Fiend. ][ Recommended party: 5 hunters. ]
Dev's lips went dry. "Five hunters…? I'm not even one."
The monster roared and charged.
Dev barely dodged, the shockwave of its impact knocking him off his feet. Stone shattered where it landed. Dust choked the air.
He scrambled up, swinging the blade. Sparks flew as his weapon clashed against its armored hide. The strike barely scratched it.
Too strong. Way too strong.
The Bonehound swiped at him, and he threw himself to the ground. Claws grazed his back, tearing cloth and skin. Pain burned, but he forced himself to roll aside, gasping.
The system's voice cut in.
[ Emergency protocol activated. ][ Temporary ability unlocked: Adaptive Instinct. Duration: 5 minutes. ]
Dev's senses sharpened instantly. Time seemed to slow. He could see the arc of the monster's next swing, the exact spot where its armor was weakest.
He gritted his teeth, planted his feet, and slashed upward.
The blade pierced a gap under its jaw. Black blood erupted, spraying across his face. The monster roared in agony, thrashing wildly.
Dev was thrown back, slamming against the cavern wall. His ribs screamed in protest.
But he saw it—the wound he inflicted. Small, shallow, but real.
For the first time since it appeared, the Bonehound bled.
Dev's chest heaved. His vision blurred with exhaustion, but his grip tightened on the flickering blade.
"Five hunters, huh?" He spat blood from his lip and forced himself to stand. "Guess I'll have to be all five."
The Bonehound snarled, its many eyes blazing red, and charged again.
And Dev met it head-on.