The sound of boots echoed through the dungeon like a desperate heartbeat.
"Move, you useless trash!"
The voice remained lodged in his head.
Max was running. He didn't know how long he had been running, nor how much longer he could keep going. The damp air burned his lungs, and every breath was a cruel reminder of his weakness. Behind him, the echo of unnatural footsteps drew closer, accompanied by a sharp, distorted screech—one that was anything but cute.
Again…, he thought.
The flashback returned without permission.
"Is that really all?" Kael, the Hero of the Sacred Sword, said with open disdain. "We've been in this world for three months, and you're still dead weight."
"My system says my stats increased," Max replied back then, clenching his fists.
"Your broken system?" Ryn, the archer, mocked with a laugh. "Maybe in another universe you'd be strong."
Only one of them didn't laugh.
Luna—the only girl in the group, the mage with the Elemental Dominion System—looked at him uncomfortably, but said nothing. She never did.
"Look at my stats," Kael continued, projecting his glowing blue window. "Strength, speed, endurance… they all rise with every battle."
Max's stats glowed too.
Or so his system claimed.
Strength +50,000
Endurance +30,000
Agility +40,000
But when he tried to lift a sword, his arms trembled. When he ran, he always fell behind. When he attacked… he missed.
"You're incompetent," one of them declared. "You shouldn't have been summoned."
The memory shattered when his foot slipped on a wet rock.
Max barely regained his balance.
"Shit…!"
He turned his head for just a second.
The monster was there.
A rabbit.
Or at least, that's what it looked like at first glance.
Its body was large—wolf-sized—covered in dark, matted fur. Its red eyes gleamed with hunger, and its mouth… its mouth was filled with jagged fangs, far too long for any herbivore. Its ears, torn and stained with something that definitely wasn't mud, twitched as they caught every sound.
Corrupted Dungeon Rabbit, the system displayed.
Level: Low.
"Low…" Max gasped. "Of course."
The screech rang out again as the creature leapt, its claws digging into the stone as it closed the distance.
Everything had gone wrong from the very start of the mission.
"We'll split up," Kael had said. "Max, you take that corridor."
"Alone?" Max asked.
"Don't be dramatic," Ryn scoffed. "Your system says you're strong, right?"
And they left him.
When the screams started, it was already too late.
Max kept running until the dungeon suddenly opened up before him.
He stopped.
A cliff.
So deep that darkness swallowed everything below. There was no visible bottom. The air rising from it was cold and heavy, as if the abyss itself were breathing.
The system activated.
Complete Analysis.
Detected Creature: Corrupted Dungeon Rabbit
Threat Level: Low
Recommendation: Engage in combat
"Engage…?" Max whispered, letting out a humorless laugh.
The window flickered again.
Stats updated. Strength increased. Endurance increased.
Probability of victory: High.
"Liar…" he said, his voice breaking.
The rabbit advanced slowly now, savoring the moment.
Max looked at his hands. They were shaking. They always were.
"Since I came to this world…" he murmured, "nothing ever changed."
He remembered the summoning. The light. The promises.
You will be heroes. You will save this world.
But no one ever said all of them would succeed.
The creature lunged.
Max stepped back—until there was no ground left beneath him.
The void loomed behind him.
The system spoke once more.
Alternative option detected. Jump off cliff.
Survival probability: 0%.
"Great…" he chuckled weakly.
He looked at the monster.
Then at the abyss.
"I guess… this is it."
He thought of his companions. Of how they would look at him if he survived. Of how he never would.
He thought of Luna, lowering her gaze.
"I never wanted to be a hero…" he whispered. "I just wanted to live."
The rabbit opened its mouth.
Its fangs gleamed.
Max closed his eyes for a moment.
"I don't want to die."
He opened them.
"But if this is my fate…" he said, stepping back, "then I'll choose it myself."
He smiled.
A small, tired—but genuine—smile.
"I won't be your dinner."
He jumped.
The wind roared around him as he fell. The dungeon's light grew smaller and smaller above. Max looked up at it, closed his eyes, and let the darkness embrace him.
And then—
A voice.
Different.
Cold.
Clear.
Lie detected.
The world seemed to stop.
Status update initiated.
Something shattered.
Something awakened.
Liar System activated.