The Frostborn Alpha lunged from the blizzard like a living avalanche, fangs bared, claws carving furrows in the permafrost. Dean sidestepped—**Enhanced Reflexes** flaring—but the beast's tail whipped around, slamming him into a glacial wall. His ribs groaned. **STATUS SCREEN** flickered crimson:
**Health: 78%**
**Pain Suppression: 43%**
"Cutting it close," Dean spat, rolling as the Alpha's claws shattered ice where his skull had been. He triggered **Bloodthorn Dagger's** passive—the blade glowed venomous green—and drove it into the beast's flank. The Alpha howled, its hide sizzling where the dagger struck. **STATUS SCREEN** updated:
**Critical Hit! Frostborn Alpha HP: 62%**
Dean didn't celebrate. He yanked the dagger free and vaulted onto the Alpha's back, stabbing downward between its vertebrae. The beast bucked, throwing him into a snowdrift. His vision swam. **STATUS SCREEN** warnings blared:
The Alpha charged. Dean exhaled—and let it come. At the last second, he jammed his pistol into its gaping maw and fired. Brain matter painted the snow. The Alpha collapsed mid-leap, momentum carrying its corpse to skid past him. **STATUS SCREEN** chimed:
**Objective Complete!**
**Reward: Frostbite Amulet (Immunity to Extreme Cold)**
The world dissolved before Dean could wipe gore from his face.
---
**STATUS SCREEN**
**Next Jump: Obsidian Maw**
**Objective: Escape the Living Dungeon**
Dean materialized in darkness. The air reeked of wet stone and something older—something hungry. His **Frostbite Amulet** dulled the chill, but the dungeon's walls pulsed like a heartbeat. **STATUS SCREEN** text burned urgent gold:
**Warning: Dungeon Adapts to Player Speed**
Dean smirked. "So slow down? Not happening." He sprinted down the corridor, boots echoing. The walls sprouted jagged spikes behind him, missing his heels by inches. A chasm yawned ahead—no bridge. **Enhanced Reflexes** kicked in. Dean leaped, grabbing a dangling chain. It snapped. He fell, twisting midair to land on a lower ledge.
**Words spent: 300**
Something scuttled in the shadows. Dean drew his dagger as a six-limbed horror skittered into view—a Dungeon Drudge, its carapace gleaming like oiled metal. He feinted left, then rammed the **Bloodthorn Dagger** into its thorax. The Drudge spasmed, ichor spraying. **STATUS SCREEN** flashed:
**Dungeon Corruption: 12%**
"Tch." Dean wrenched the blade free. Corruption meant the dungeon learned his tactics. He needed unpredictability.
---
Three Drudges cornered him in a dead-end chamber. Dean ejected his pistol's magazine—one round left. He fired it into the ceiling. The ricochet pinged between stone walls, confusing the Drudges for half a second. Enough. He gutted the first, used its corpse as a shield against the second's claws, then lobbed his empty pistol at the third's face. It staggered. Dean's dagger found its eye socket.
The dungeon trembled, walls contracting. Dean bolted as the ceiling collapsed behind him. A doorway shimmered ahead—the exit. He dove through as stone teeth gnashed at his ankles.
**STATUS SCREEN** erupted in gold:
**Escape Successful!**
**Reward: Phantom Step (Short-Range Teleport, 3 Charges/Jump)**
The voice sighed. **"You're burning through worlds too fast."**
Dean cracked his knuckles. "Then make the next one harder."
The void swallowed him whole.
---
**STATUS SCREEN**
**Next Jump: Eternal Crucible**
**Objective: Kill the God-King**
Dean landed knees-deep in molten glass, his **Frostbite Amulet** neutralizing the heat. Before him, a titan of black iron loomed—the God-King, its hollow eyes fixed on him.
**STATUS SCREEN** trembled:
**Final World.**
Dean grinned. "About time."