Chapter 1: The Day the World Was Rewritten
The rain had been falling for three days without pause.
In the lower districts, rain was never beautiful. It did not wash away filth — it only spread it. The narrow alleys turned into rivers of black water mixed with sewage, oil, and blood from fights that no one bothered to clean up. Neon signs flickered weakly, their colors reflecting on puddles like broken pieces of a shattered world.
Leon Veridan stood beneath a half-broken awning, his thin jacket soaked through. Cold water ran down his neck, making him shiver.
He had learned long ago that shivering was a waste of energy.
Energy meant survival.
Survival meant another day breathing.
Another day meant nothing — but it was still better than death.
Leon was seventeen.
In the upper districts, seventeen meant academy, future, connections, talent tests, and protection.
In the lower districts, seventeen meant debt, hunger, gangs, and bodies found in alleys with no names.
Leon stared at the cracked screen of his old phone. No messages. No job offers. No replies.
The factory he worked at part-time had closed two weeks ago after a "gas accident." Twenty-three people died. The owners paid compensation to three families. The rest got nothing.
That was how the world worked.
Not unfair.
Just indifferent.
Leon adjusted the strap of his worn backpack and stepped out into the rain.
He needed money.
Not for dreams. Not for the future.
For tonight's meal.
The abandoned subway entrance was hidden behind a collapsed advertising board. Most people avoided it. Rumors said drug dealers used it. Others said homeless gangs fought there. A few whispered about disappearances.
Leon had heard something else.
People said sometimes, strange lights appeared underground.
People said sometimes, those who entered never came back.
People also said sometimes… someone came back rich.
Rumors were cheap.
But hunger was expensive.
Leon slipped past the barrier and descended the broken stairs. The deeper he went, the colder the air became. The smell of rust, mold, and something metallic — like blood — grew stronger.
His phone signal died.
The darkness thickened.
Then, at the bottom of the stairs, he saw it.
A door.
It was not metal. It was not wood.
It was… wrong.
A floating rectangular frame of shifting gray light, as if reality itself had been cut open. Symbols he did not recognize slowly rotated around its edges. The air around it felt heavier, pressing against his chest.
Leon's heartbeat sped up.
This was not a drug den.
This was not a gang hideout.
This was something else.
"Dungeon…" he whispered.
The word felt ridiculous.
And yet, it felt true.
The government denied their existence. Media called them mass hallucinations, terrorist tricks, or underground tech experiments.
But Leon had seen videos before they were taken down.
Monsters.
Floating status windows.
People throwing fire from their hands.
People becoming rich overnight.
People disappearing forever.
Leon's fingers clenched.
If he turned around now, he would go back to his normal life.
Hunger.
Debt.
Slow death.
If he stepped forward…
He might die faster.
Or…
He might live.
Leon took a breath and stepped into the door.
The world twisted.
Sound vanished.
For a single terrifying moment, Leon felt like his body was being peeled apart layer by layer — skin, muscle, bone, thought, memory.
Then he fell.
Hard.
Cold stone slammed into his back, knocking the air from his lungs.
He gasped, rolling to the side, coughing violently.
The smell hit him first.
Damp earth.
Rot.
And something sharp — like ozone mixed with blood.
He pushed himself up and looked around.
He was no longer in the subway.
He stood in a massive underground cavern. Strange glowing crystals embedded in the walls cast dim blue light. Thick stone pillars rose like ancient bones. The ground was uneven, cracked, and stained dark in many places.
Blood.
Old blood.
New blood.
Leon swallowed.
He was not alone.
Not far away, he saw bones.
Human bones.
Some still wore scraps of clothing.
His stomach twisted.
Then—
A sound.
Scraping.
Wet footsteps.
From behind a pillar, something emerged.
It was humanoid — but wrong.
Its skin was gray and stretched too tight over its bones. Its eyes were sunken pits glowing faint red. Its jaw hung at an unnatural angle, drool mixed with dark blood dripping from broken teeth. Its fingers were long, tipped with blackened claws.
A Ghoul.
Leon didn't know how he knew.
He just did.
The Ghoul tilted its head.
Then it screamed.
Not a human scream.
A tearing, wet, animal shriek.
It charged.
Leon's body moved before his mind.
He turned and ran.
His shoes slipped on wet stone. His lungs burned almost instantly. The cavern twisted into narrow tunnels, dead ends, broken chambers.
The Ghoul was fast.
Too fast.
Leon tripped.
He slammed into the ground.
Pain exploded in his knee.
He rolled just as claws slashed where his head had been.
Stone shattered.
Leon screamed.
He grabbed the nearest thing — a broken metal pipe lying on the ground.
The Ghoul lunged again.
Leon swung.
The pipe cracked against the Ghoul's skull.
A dull thud.
Not enough.
The Ghoul barely slowed.
It grabbed Leon by the jacket and slammed him into the wall.
His vision exploded in white.
Ribs screamed.
Air vanished from his lungs.
The Ghoul raised its claws.
Leon saw death.
Not metaphorical.
Real.
Close.
I'm going to die.
The thought was calm.
Almost tired.
Then—
Something shattered inside his mind.
Not pain.
Not sound.
A presence.
A cold, vast, observing will.
And then—
Blue light filled his vision.
[ SYSTEM INITIALIZATION DETECTED ]
[ HOST COMPATIBILITY: 72.4% — ACCEPTABLE ]
[ EMERGENCY SOUL BINDING IN PROGRESS… ]
Leon couldn't breathe.
His heart hammered so hard he thought it would burst.
The world slowed.
The Ghoul's claws hung inches from his face.
Time itself seemed thick.
[ INFINITE ASCENSION SYSTEM — ACTIVATED ]
[ HOST: LEON VERIDAN ]
[ STATUS: CRITICAL ]
[ FIRST DIRECTIVE: SURVIVE ]
Power surged through his body.
Not strength.
Not speed.
Clarity.
His senses sharpened.
The Ghoul's movements became readable.
Its weak points glowed faintly in his vision.
Its neck.
Its eyes.
Its exposed rib cage.
Information flooded his mind.
[ BASIC ANALYSIS UNLOCKED ]
TARGET: MUTATED GHOUL (LV 2)
THREAT LEVEL: HIGH
RECOMMENDED ACTION: STRIKE WEAK POINT — NECK / EYES
Leon screamed and drove the metal pipe upward.
Not randomly.
Not in panic.
Precisely.
The pipe slammed into the Ghoul's jaw and pierced upward into its skull.
A wet, cracking sound echoed.
The Ghoul froze.
Its claws twitched.
Then its body went limp.
It collapsed on top of Leon.
Leon shoved it away, scrambling back, gasping for air, shaking violently.
He stared at the corpse.
He was alive.
He was alive.
[ TARGET ELIMINATED ]
[ EXPERIENCE ACQUIRED ]
[ LEVEL UP AVAILABLE ]
Leon's vision blurred.
His body trembled.
Then warmth spread through his muscles.
Pain dulled.
His breathing steadied.
[ LEVEL UP — LV 1 → LV 2 ]
[ BODY ATTRIBUTE INCREASED ]
[ MIND ATTRIBUTE INCREASED ]
[ SOUL STABILITY SLIGHTLY IMPROVED ]
Windows appeared in front of him.
Floating.
Real.
STATUS
Name: Leon Veridan
Level: 2
Body: 6
Mind: 7
Soul: 5
Sin: 0
Virtue: 0
Condition: Injured (Minor)
Leon stared.
"This… this is real…" he whispered.
Not a dream.
Not a hallucination.
The corpse still stank.
The blood was still warm.
The pain was still there.
The System was real.
Then another message appeared.
This one was darker.
The blue light shifted to a deep crimson.
[ WARNING ]
[ SYSTEM OBSERVATION ACTIVE ]
[ HOST HAS ENTERED OFFICIAL PROGRESSION PATH ]
[ DEATH PROBABILITY (CURRENT DUNGEON): 87.3% ]
Leon laughed.
Not happy.
Not hysterical.
Just… tired.
"So even with you… I'm almost dead," he said.
The System did not reply.
It never did.
Not to questions.
Only to rules.
Leon pushed himself to his feet.
His knee still hurt.
His ribs still hurt.
But now…
He could see.
Not just monsters.
Paths.
Options.
A faint glowing line appeared in his vision, leading deeper into the dungeon.
[ HIDDEN TUTORIAL PATH DETECTED ]
[ RISK: EXTREME ]
[ REWARD: UNKNOWN ]
Leon stared at the glowing path.
He could turn back.
Maybe.
If he found the exit.
If more Ghouls didn't kill him first.
If the dungeon allowed him to leave.
Or—
He could follow the path.
The System had chosen him.
Not because he was special.
Not because he was kind.
But because he was compatible.
Replaceable.
Expendable.
Leon clenched his fists.
His whole life, he had been at the bottom.
Ignored.
Crushed.
Disposable.
The world had never given him mercy.
Why should he be merciful to it?
"Fine," Leon said quietl
y.
"If you want to use me…"
He stepped onto the glowing path.
"…then I'll use you back."
Deep in the dungeon, something ancient stirred.
Not a monster.
Not a human.
Something that watched System Hosts.
Something that smiled without a face.
The game had begun.