The gate was heavier than it looked. Twisted iron groaned as Taesung pushed it open, each step echoing against concrete drenched in old blood. Beyond it, the Rift changed again.
The tunnels were gone.
What lay beyond was something buried deep underground, forgotten by time. Mold devoured the walls. Pipes leaked viscous black liquid into trenches carved through the stone. The smell was worse than death—it was like rot that had aged, fermented, and grown intelligent.
Taesung stepped cautiously.
The light behind him dimmed until there was none. Darkness pressed from all sides, swallowing sound. The only thing he could hear was his breath and the occasional drip of something far ahead.
Then—
Crunch.
He stopped. Raised the blade. Waited.
Another crunch.
Something was crawling in the dark. Something big.
He narrowed his eyes. The system flickered in the corner of his vision.
> [Presence Detected.]
[Level Unknown.]
[Warning: You have entered the Boss Zone.]
Of course. No fanfare. No dramatic music. Just that oppressive pressure growing thicker, heavier.
He crouched low and moved slowly, one step at a time. The floor was uneven—bones beneath his boots, shattered and fused into the concrete like fossils.
Then he saw it.
A single red light. No… not a light. An eye.
Floating.
And then more. Dozens of them.
They opened across the wall like blooming flowers. Each one glowed faintly, blinking in irregular rhythms. The wall was alive.
And then it moved.
A low rumble, like a thousand insects burrowing through the earth.
The thing detached itself from the far end of the room, pulling free from stone like it had been sleeping in the walls.
It wasn't a creature.
It was a collection of them.
A fused mass of bodies—human, beast, insect. Dozens of arms, legs, claws, and teeth layered over each other, bound by sinew and rage. Faces blinked open, screaming silently, buried beneath muscle and rot.
It didn't roar.
It hissed. A single long, wet hiss that vibrated in his bones.
Taesung didn't wait.
He sprinted left, avoiding the first tentacle that smashed into the ground where he'd been standing. The floor exploded, sending dust and bone flying.
The second strike came from the ceiling.
He jumped, rolled, came up with the Wraithsteel Blade slicing in a wide arc. The blade met flesh—but not cleanly. It cut, yes, but the thing didn't react.
It wasn't alive in any way that mattered.
The tendrils reached again, faster this time, trying to pin him down. Taesung moved like water, dodging in close. He aimed for the seams—where one body merged with another.
Slash. Slash. Stab.
He tore through a layer of muscle and slid under a swinging arm that looked like it belonged to a gorilla. Claws grazed his cheek.
He ignored the pain. Kept moving.
The thing adapted.
It dropped to the ground, flattening its mass, and surged forward like a wave. Taesung was forced back, feet skidding across bone-dust. His back hit a pillar—he ducked just in time as a barbed tail punched through the stone above him.
> [Minor Injury Sustained: Laceration.]
[Bleed Effect: Negligible.]
[Stamina: 78%]
He needed a plan.
The Rift wasn't just a dungeon. It was alive, and the thing before him was its avatar. Mindless, maybe. But powerful.
Too powerful to brute force.
He flicked his blade, clearing blood from it, then looked up.
The ceiling.
There were pipes running above—large ones. Steam hissed from cracks. Old, rusted, but still pressurized. And behind the monster, a massive generator was half-buried in the wall, likely part of the old station infrastructure before the Rift swallowed it.
He smiled.
Taesung ran.
He didn't attack. He just ran.
The creature chased—masses of flesh dragging behind it, mouths biting at the air. The entire room shook with its movement.
He leapt onto debris, then onto a rusted beam. Climbed quickly, using a combination of upper strength and desperate instinct. The thing below thrashed and howled.
Halfway up, he slashed a pipe.
Steam burst out in a violent hiss, scalding and white. He moved fast, cutting another. And another. Pressure dropped fast—building behind the remaining lines.
He reached the top beam and stood there, staring down at the monster. It looked up, all eyes glowing.
Too late.
He threw his blade.
The Wraithsteel Blade spun end-over-end, glowing faintly, and pierced the last pipe right above the creature.
Boom.
The line exploded.
Steam and boiling water rained down, followed by a chunk of the ceiling. The monster screamed—finally screamed—as superheated metal and fire tore into its mass.
Taesung dropped with the debris, landing hard but controlled.
The creature writhed. Melted. Parts of it split off and crawled away, only to dissolve moments later.
He retrieved his blade, stepping through the steam.
It wasn't dead.
But it was wounded.
And now it was angry.
From the back of the room, a second shape emerged—smaller, but faster.
Another fused horror, but this one had arms ending in swords, and its legs were digitigrade, like a lizard's.
Taesung exhaled slowly.
"I see. Two of you."
The system buzzed again.
> [Boss Split Triggered.]
[Enemies: Parasite Core, Guardian Husk.]
The first one was the body.
The second—probably the brain.
They were separating.
It meant he was doing damage. That was good.
He rolled his shoulders and twirled the blade once.
Then he charged.
The blade met the Guardian Husk's swords mid-swing—steel rang against corrupted bone. Sparks flew. The smaller creature was faster, more precise. It moved like a martial artist, each step calculated, its glowing eyes tracking him like a hawk.
Taesung ducked under a sweep, pivoted, stabbed low.
The creature kicked off the wall and twisted midair, slashing downward with both arms. He caught one strike, but the second carved across his side.
Blood sprayed.
Pain spiked.
> [Wound: Moderate]
[Stamina: 54%]
He grit his teeth and blocked another flurry.
This one was smart. Not just fused flesh—it remembered combat. Remembered form.
He baited a strike—stepped left when the creature lunged—and grabbed a chunk of exposed rebar from the rubble. When the next strike came, he parried with the blade and slammed the rebar into its knee joint.
Crack.
It stumbled.
He didn't wait.
Blade up, thrust forward—
Straight through its throat.
The creature gurgled, then went still.
> [Guardian Husk Defeated.]
[Points Gained: 500]
One down.
The Parasite Core screeched and surged again, enraged. It was bleeding—black blood spilling from seams in its body. But it wasn't retreating.
It threw its weight forward, crashing through pillars.
Taesung ran straight toward it.
He dodged a tentacle, then another, then jumped, landing on top of the writhing mass. His blade plunged down—again and again, hacking through layers.
One more hit.
Just one more—
He felt it.
A pulse.
Not of the monster.
Something else.
Behind the wall.
And he felt it.
A strong presence.
And he felt it.
A strong presence.
The weight of it dropped like a boulder on his chest, slowing his heartbeat to a crawl. It wasn't like the pressure a strong monster gave off—it was something else. Something… deeper. Ancient.
Yoon Taesung immediately crouched, eyes narrowing. The fog in the Rift thickened, growing darker, clinging to his skin like wet cloth. The silence was sudden. No rustle, no growls. Not even the wind.
Something was wrong.
He looked behind him. The corpse of the armored brute lay broken, its red core now resting in his inventory, along with a handful of Rift Points. The fight had been brutal. His shoulder was still sore from the last blow, but he'd healed enough to move.
Yet now, everything about the Rift felt different.
Taesung moved slowly through the stone corridor, his blade drawn. He wasn't heading toward the exit just yet. Curiosity tugged at him—but caution screamed louder. He kept to the wall, every step placed carefully to avoid making sound.
There was no noise, no light. Just the hum of that… presence.
He opened the system store.
[You have 235 Rift Points.]
He hadn't checked it properly before, but now seemed like a good time. If something was deeper in this place—something worse—he needed to be ready.
[System Store – Weapons]
— Iron Fang Dagger – 50 RP
— Reaver Blade – 200 RP
— Ember Pike – 500 RP [Locked]
He bought the Reaver Blade.
[Purchase Confirmed.]
[Reaver Blade – A brutal weapon forged for bloodshed. Tier: D+. Enhances STR slightly.]
It appeared in his hand, heavier than his old sword. Serrated edges. Cold to the touch. It felt… right.
He tested its weight, adjusted his grip, and moved on.
Minutes passed. He should've left already. But something about the Rift had changed, and he needed to know why.
Then, he found it.
A dead-end hall, unlike the rest of the Rift. Smooth, unnatural stone. The walls were marked—not claw marks, not wear, but carvings. Ancient symbols, half-erased with time. And at the end of the hall… a gate.
No mistaking it.
Ten meters tall. Black stone, cracked down the middle. Chains stretched across it like veins of silver, pulsing faintly.
Taesung stood there, breathing shallowly.
The presence grew stronger.
It wasn't leaking killing intent. It wasn't raging. It was just there. Watching.
He took a step closer.
The gate pulsed.
"Shit," he muttered, backing away instantly.
And then he heard it.
A whisper. Not a voice. Not language. Just pressure. A pulse in his mind that didn't belong. A feeling like drowning beneath a frozen lake.
His vision blurred for a moment.
Run.
He turned.
And he ran.
Every step was instinct. The Rift warped behind him, the path shifting subtly—noises returning, the fog clearing. He didn't look back. He didn't think. That presence was wrong. He couldn't explain it, but every cell in his body told him to leave.
He reached the previous chamber, passed the corpse of the boss again. His feet pounded the stone. A Lesser Raptor stepped into his path, snarling.
He cut it down in one slash.
Another leapt at him—he ducked, slashed, and kept moving. Blood sprayed. He didn't stop to loot them.
The Rift's light shimmered ahead—the exit.
He launched himself forward, rolled through the mist—
—And landed hard on stone.
The Rift spat him out into the world again.
Bright daylight hit his eyes like a slap. He blinked, breathing hard, the Rift Gate flickering behind him before sealing shut.
His whole body shook. He wasn't injured. He hadn't been attacked. But it felt like he'd survived something worse than death.
He stood there for a long moment, staring at the Rift.
His mind still echoed with that presence.
Something was down there. Something sealed. And the Rift had changed.
He'd been lucky.
Next time, he might not be.
He turned away.
But the chill in his bones didn't fade.