Chapter 5: Survive the First Night

The Weight of Helplessness

The dust still hung heavy in the air, particles of rock and dirt swirling in the dim glow of Miyeon's staff. The tunnel behind them was completely caved in—the only way out sealed shut.

The temperature in the dungeon felt colder now.

Ryosuke's pulse hammered in his ears.

They were trapped.

And that thing...

🔹 [ERROR – No Data Available]

The System still refused to identify it.

The Party Fractures

Jung Hwan took a shaky step forward, his sword raised. "Alright. No one panics. We just need to—"

A wet squelching noise cut him off.

They all turned.

Minjae, the C-rank tank, was still slumped against the wall where the creature had thrown him. But something was wrong.

His chest was moving—too much.

Like something inside was crawling.

His body jerked violently. Then, in a grotesque gurgle, a long, black limb burst from his throat.

Someone screamed.

Miyeon stumbled back, horrified. "Oh my god—"

Minjae's body collapsed, and from within his torn chest cavity, the creature slowly emerged.

It had been inside him.

Ryosuke couldn't breathe.

The thing stood at its full height, its chitinous limbs clicking against the stone floor. It was humanoid in shape, but grotesquely elongated. Too many eyes. Too many moving parts.

It tilted its head at them.

Then, it lunged.

The Desperate Fight

Jung Hwan reacted first, swinging his sword wildly. The blade connected—but it was like hitting solid steel.

The creature whipped around and slammed a clawed limb into him, sending him flying.

Sungho shouted a warning, driving his spear toward its side. The moment his weapon made contact, the creature's body shifted—parts of its carapace bending like liquid, allowing the spear to pass through harmlessly.

Ryosuke saw it immediately.

"It's adapting," he muttered.

The others didn't hear him.

A D-rank archer loosed an arrow, but before it could land, the creature vanished—flickering out of existence like a mirage.

Then, it reappeared behind her.

A single swipe of its claws, and her head rolled to the ground.

Chaos exploded.

The Betrayal – Left as Bait

"We need to fall back!" Sungho shouted, already moving toward the side tunnels.

"There's no way out, you idiot!" Jung Hwan spat, his face pale.

Miyeon was shaking. "It's too strong."

"We can't fight this," one of the D-rank rangers said. "We have to escape—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

Because the others were already moving.

Miyeon had started chanting something, her hands glowing with magic.

Then, Ryosuke saw it.

A faint shimmer in the air—an emergency teleport rune.

A way out.

But it wasn't for everyone.

Jung Hwan turned to Ryosuke, a cruel smirk forming.

"You," he said.

Ryosuke barely had time to react before Minjae's old shield was shoved into his hands.

A D-rank hunter grabbed his arm, forcing him toward the creature.

"Bait."

Ryosuke's stomach plummeted.

They weren't all escaping.

They were going to leave him behind.

"Wait, no—"

But it was already happening.

The teleport rune flared to life, and in an instant—

They were gone.

Only Sungho hesitated. His gaze met Ryosuke's for the briefest moment—guilt flashing across his face.

Then he turned away.

The rune took him too.

And Ryosuke was alone.

The Moment Before Death

The air felt heavier.

The creature's many eyes shifted toward him, its movements slow and deliberate.

A predator that knew the kill was inevitable.

Ryosuke's mind raced.

His grip on the shield tightened.

Was this really how it ended?

Forgotten. Abandoned. Left to die in the dark.

His entire life—everything he had endured, everything he had suffered—

And this was how it would be taken away?

His breath was ragged.

The creature lurched forward.

🔹 [The Forsaken Shall Rise.]

The voice whispered again.

This time, it was closer.

But the creature was already within him, feeding on his mana and life force, growing stronger inside them.

The Moment Before Death – The End of Han Ryosuke

Pain.

A kind of agony that no human should ever experience burned through Ryosuke's body. His vision flickered in and out, his muscles spasming as if something was being ripped away from him, piece by piece.

He had been stabbed before in his years as a Hunter—scraped by goblin daggers, burned by misfired spells. But this—this was something else.

It wasn't just his body dying.

It was like his very existence was being erased.

His limbs twitched uselessly as he collapsed onto the cold, damp stone floor of the dungeon. His fingers dug into the dirt, but he had no strength to push himself up.

…Is this how it ends?

His mind was racing.

The betrayal. The laughter. The way Jung Hwan smirked as they used him like a tool, like garbage.

The way Sungho looked at him, hesitated for just a moment—and still left.

"You're useless."

"You're a failure."

"You don't belong."

"You're not even worth a proper death."

The words that had haunted him his entire life now echoed mercilessly in his head.

He had tried so hard to survive, to prove that he had some worth.

But in the end, what did it matter?

His father was right.

His brother was right.

His former comrades were right.

He was nothing.

A weak, powerless existence.

A mistake.

The Collapse of a Broken Mind

A choked, ragged breath escaped his lips.

It wasn't fair.

Why did they get to live?

Jung Hwan, Minjae, Miyeon, Sungho—all of them.

They got to walk away, laughing, victorious—while he was here, rotting like a nameless corpse in an unmarked grave.

No one would remember him.

No one would even care.

Did they even feel guilty?

Or had they already forgotten his existence?

Ryosuke's breathing grew erratic. His mind was unraveling, his thoughts spiraling into an abyss of rage, despair, and crushing helplessness.

Why?

Why?

WHY?

Why was the world so cruel to the weak?

His fingers, trembling and bloodied, clawed at the stone.

He wanted to scream.

But his throat was too full of blood.

The Forsaken Shall Rise

🔹 [The Forsaken Shall Rise.]

The voice.

It was closer now. Not a whisper, not a distant echo—but a presence.

🔹 [SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED.]

A pulse of something—something deep, something dark, something primordial—rippled through his dying body.

Pain turned to numbness.

Then—

A hunger.

A hunger so vast it could devour the world.

The darkness wasn't pulling him in.

No.

He was becoming it.