Kaizen regretted everything.
The hike wasn't a hike. It was a vertical punishment designed by a sadist.
Mud turned to gravel. Gravel turned to jagged rocks. Rocks turned to ice.
He had to strap on the cheap crampons he bought from the general store. Clack. Clack. They bit into the ice, but every step sent a shockwave of pain up his shins. He used the rope to haul his oversized backpack up a ledge, grunting like a dying seal.
"My lungs," Kaizen wheezed, clutching his chest. "I think I left a lung back at the 2,000-meter mark. I am running on pure spite."
[ Stamina: 1 / 10 ]
[ Status: Hypoxia Imminent ]
The sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the snow in shades of violet and grey. The temperature plummeted. If he hadn't bought the "Yeti-Fur Lined Coat" (fake fur, definitely dog), he would be a popsicle by now.
He dragged his feet through the snow. Every step felt like he was wearing lead boots.
"Who puts a temple..." huff "...at the top..." puff "...of a death mountain?"
He paused, leaning against a frozen pine tree to catch his breath. He flicked on his flashlight. The beam cut through the darkness, illuminating the swirling snowflakes.
The air here was thin. It tasted like cold iron.
He looked up.
There it was.
The Temple of the Sun God.
From this distance, it looked like a rotting tooth sticking out of the mountain's gum. It was a ruin in the truest sense. Broken pillars, collapsed roofs, and piles of gray rubble that used to be majestic walls.
"Just a little more," Kaizen groaned. "Just get the sword. Sleep for a week."
He pushed off the tree.
He trudged through the knee-deep snow. The wind howled, trying to push him back, but Kaizen lowered his head and leaned into it.
Fifty meters. Thirty meters. Ten meters.
He stepped onto the cracked cobblestone of the temple courtyard.
Ding.
A blue window popped up. It wasn't the usual passive notification. This one pulsed with a golden border.
[ SYSTEM ALERT ]
[ Hidden Dungeon Detected: The Echo of the Sun ]
[ Rank: F (Variable) ]
[ Entry Condition Met: Sun Tear Pendant ]
Kaizen blinked, wiping snow from his eyelashes.
"Rank F?"
He frowned. "That's... suspiciously low. The katana is a D-Rank weapon. Why is the dungeon F-Rank?"
Then he looked at the tag: (Variable).
"Ah," Kaizen nodded sagely. "It scales. It means the difficulty is currently set to 'Tutorial' because I haven't triggered the boss yet. It's basically a safe zone until I do something stupid."
He took another step forward.
HUMMMMMM.
The air suddenly vibrated.
It wasn't a sound. It was a pressure wave.
The snow around his feet stopped falling. It hung suspended in mid-air, like the world had hit the pause button.
Then, the world hit Rewind.
Whoosh.
A massive stone block flew past Kaizen's head, seemingly sucked out of the ground by a giant vacuum.
"Whoa!" Kaizen ducked.
Another stone flew past. Then a pillar. Then an entire roof section.
The ruin wasn't collapsing; it was un-collapsing.
Grey stone turned into pristine white marble. Dead moss withered away and was replaced by shimmering gold paint. Cracks sealed themselves up with a hiss of magic.
The visuals were insane. It was like watching a time-lapse video in reverse, but in 4K resolution with surround sound.
GONG.
A massive bell tolled. The sound shook the snow off the nearby trees.
GONG.
Kaizen stood there, mouth open, watching the dead ruin transform into a magnificent, golden cathedral.
And then came the people.
They flickered into existence like holograms buffering into reality.
Monks in saffron robes walked through walls that were still forming. Paladins in shining silver armor stood guard at gates that didn't exist two seconds ago. Worshippers knelt on the cold stone, chanting a prayer in a language that sounded like fire crackling.
They weren't ghosts. They looked solid. They had shadows. They had weight.
But Kaizen waved his hand in front of a passing monk. The monk didn't react.
"Background assets," Kaizen noted. "They're just looping animations. Harmless."
The smell of incense replaced the smell of snow. The biting cold vanished, replaced by a gentle, artificial warmth radiating from the temple's core.
The Temple of the Sun God was back in its prime.
Kaizen stood at the entrance, a small, shivering figure in a winter coat holding a rusty pan, staring at the splendor of a lost age.
"Okay," Kaizen whispered, his gamer instincts overriding his fear. "The graphics budget went hard on this one."
He checked his watch. It was pitch black outside. The wind was screaming.
Inside the temple? It was warm. It was lit by magical torches. It was safe.
"I haven't yet triggered the main quest yet… so that means, these monks won't eat me…" Kaizen decided, walking through the massive golden doors. "And I am not walking back down that mountain in the dark."
He walked past a kneeling paladin and found a cozy spot near a large marble pillar, away from the draft.
He dropped his backpack with a heavy thud.
"Camping in a dungeon," Kaizen muttered, unrolling his sleeping bag on the pristine floor. "It's free real estate."
He crawled inside, clutching his rusty pan like a teddy bear.
"Goodnight, ancient ghosts. Don't eat me."