A blade glinted in the darkness.
"You idiot, is there something wrong with your head?"
Deep inside a desolate branch of the Creation Cavern, a mysterious structure born from the ancient battle between the two most powerful primordial gods, a mocking voice rang out.
Two teenagers were there: one standing, one struggling on the ground.
Martin, a 1.4-meter-tall runt clutching a heavy saber, looked down at Riven. Riven's hair was as black as an endless night, seemingly swallowing every speck of light in the world. His face was so exquisitely carved that women would dream of being his girlfriend, while men could only curse their own existence for not being born women.
"Wh... why?" Riven gasped, staring at a half-eaten meat skewer on the ground before screaming in fury.
Blood trickled uncontrollably from his nose. His vision blurred, and his voice grew faint. His hands clenched so tight that his nails pierced his own palms.
Poison. He had been betrayed over a meal of roasted meat.
Martin let out a cold laugh, stepping toward Riven with his saber in one hand. "Think simple, my friend. If I really found a god's treasure, why on earth would I invite you to share it?"
As he spoke, Martin's eyes remained fixed on the cube-shaped, dark-purple pendant hanging from Riven's neck. Seeing this, Riven realized everything. This was a simple case of murder for loot. He knew Martin was a degenerate, but he never imagined the man would turn on a childhood friend who had lived with him in the orphanage since they were boys.
"Hahahaha!"
Riven laughed loudly, mocking both Martin and his own stupidity. His body, already withered by the toxin, went limp. His voice faded into nothingness. Finally, his legs gave out, his face hit the dirt, and his breath stopped.
Not entirely convinced, Martin raised his saber to finish the job. But he froze.
Riven's body began to twitch violently. Then, eyes that were once closed snapped open. Breath returned to his lungs. He surged upward and scanned his surroundings with a sharp, alien gaze.
In truth, he was now Josuke, an ordinary high school student. After a grueling exam, Josuke had tried to decompress by playing ranked games, only to lose 52 matches in a row. The pure rage of dropping to Hardstuck Silver had caused a fatal stroke.
Now, he had opened his eyes to this strange world. Memories flooded in like a tidal wave, giving him a rough understanding of the original Riven's murky past and why he had been transmigrated. But he knew those weren't the priority.
He locked eyes with Martin.
The latter was wary but quickly dismissed it as a "death throe." The campfire crackled and popped. With his experience, Martin knew that those on the verge of death were prone to desperate, suicidal struggles, so he approached with caution.
Riven backed away until, with a thud, his spine hit the cave wall. The cave air was freezing, but it didn't compare to the coldness in his heart. Suddenly, the cavern shook violently, though neither man paid it much mind.
According to his memories, although his level was higher, his class was [Thief]. He stood no chance in a head-on clash against a [Hunter], especially while poisoned. The weakness returned; transmigration only muffled the poison, it didn't cure it.
In that moment of despair, the purple necklace erupted in a mystical light. A mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
[Conditions met. You have become the Sin-Bearer of the Eternal Night God, Nocturne Eternis.] [Memory scan complete. Familiarity with "RPG games" detected.] [The Boon will adapt to your subconscious for synchronization. The RPG Dungeon has opened.]
As the light faded, a faint smirk played on Riven's lips. "Nice. My 'hack' has finally arrived."
His vision shifted, overlaid with a sleek RPG interface. He spotted a buff icon:
[Status: Primal Blessing. Health regeneration increased and debuffs reduced by 50% when near a campfire.]
A notification popped up:
[Awakening Quest: Kill the threat to your life.] [Reward: 30 RPG Coins, Cunning Gloves, Death-Warning Necklace.] [Failure: Permanent Death.]
Martin lunged at Riven with startling speed. Riven utilized the Thief's innate agility, slipping behind Martin and maintaining distance.
Martin growled, feeling like a fool. He turned and gave chase. However, hampered by his heavy saber, he couldn't catch the high-speed Thief. After a short sprint, Riven was huffing for breath, realizing that running forever wasn't the solution. Martin, on the other hand, maintained the steady, superior stamina of a Hunter.
Riven quickly explored the RPG features and found the [Skill Tree]. Normal people spent years mastering a skill. In the RPG Dungeon, you only needed points. Since he had none, he used the [Skill Degradation] feature. He sacrificed three useless skills from the original owner to obtain two he deemed essential.
[Note: Degraded skills only return 60% of their points.]
"You're about to die and you still make me lose face! Today, I'll hack you into eight pieces!"
Riven looked at the runt with a disdainful gaze and a provocative smirk. "If you're so tough, why don't you try charging in without looking up? Maybe you'll finally see my chin."
It took Martin a second to process the height joke. His rage boiled over. "You dog! I'll butcher you!"
"Even NPCs change their dialogue lines," Riven retorted. "Don't you get tired of barking the same thing?"
As Martin jumped toward him to close the gap, Riven activated his first skill.
[Skill Activated: Vision Steal. Temporarily blinds one designated target within a one-meter radius.]
Panic set in as Martin's vision went pitch black. Suddenly, he felt someone wrenching the saber from his hand. He gripped it with all his life's strength, knowing he was finished if he lost it.
"You think a tight grip will stop me?" Riven cold-snorted.
[Skill Activated: Snatch. Increases one arm's strength by 5x. The other arm becomes useless for several seconds. Note: Skill damages the executing hand.]
His hand erupted with force, veins bulging. Snap! The saber was ripped away. Riven followed up with a brutal kick to Martin's face, sending him crashing into the stone floor. The sound of breaking bone was sickeningly clear.
Martin clutched his shattered face, screaming in agony. "My face! My face! You dog, Riven... I'll kill you!"
Riven walked over slowly, saber in hand, speaking with the cold authority of a judge. "What are you screaming for? Your face wasn't pretty anyway. Ugly becoming uglier is still just ugly. Forget it, I just learned a third skill called [Height Theft]. Want to see it?"
Martin backed away in horror. "You... what are you planning? Everyone knows we came down here together! If something happens to me..."
Before he could finish, Riven's blade swept across his throat. The head tumbled away, and hot blood sprayed directly onto Riven's face.
[Steel Will Activated: Negative psychological effects removed.]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have received 30 RPG Coins, Cunning Gloves, a Death-Warning Necklace, and 52 EXP.] [Note: EXP reduced by 50% for killing a lower-level enemy.] [Trial Quest: Survive and escape the Creation Cavern. Find one Primal Aspect to unlock all unsealed Dungeon functions.]
Riven immediately hid his own necklace under his clothes and put on the [Death-Warning Necklace] and [Cunning Gloves].
He checked Martin's body but found nothing but some loose change, dried meat, and a waterskin. No antidote. He had a few hours left before the poison killed him. He grabbed a torch and headed deeper into the darkness.
Ten minutes later, the sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed. Five figures emerged from the shadows. Three men and two women, a seasoned adventuring party.
Riven didn't look at the men. His eyes were locked onto the girl in the center. Silver hair cascading past her shoulders, skin white as snow, and azure eyes as clear as crystal. She was beautiful, beautiful to the point where Riven had to swallow his saliva.
[RPG Dungeon Display: Class. Holy Maiden (?)]
She looked like a game character rendered in 8K resolution.
"Halt! Who are you? Why are you here alone?" A large man stepped forward, sword raised.
Riven looked at them. Their levels were all higher than his. If they fought, his win rate was zero. He raised his hands. "I... my party... swept by that thing..."
Suddenly, his body swayed. The Níðfrost Toxin was spreading faster.
"He's injured!" the silver-haired girl cried out.
Riven fell to his knees. A small, delicate hand caught his shoulder. A sweet fragrance filled his senses.
"Stay with me! Are you poisoned?"
Riven looked up into those blue eyes. If I die now, it's a good way to go.
"This is Níðfrost Toxin!" the blonde priest shouted. "Standard antidotes won't work. Forcing him to drink them will only make it worse."
"Then what? We just let him die?"
"No... I have a way... but..."
Sylvie's voice was determined yet hesitant. "I will use Lumen Vitae to save him. But it will consume a massive amount of my mana..."
Her face flushed deep red. The priest nodded solemnly. "Sylvie, you are truly kind to risk yourself for a stranger. May the God of Creation bless you."
"Mistress, you can't! He's just a stranger!"
"But I can't let him die in front of me!"
As the light of the healing spell began to glow, Riven's consciousness finally faded into total darkness.