The instant dungeon (2)

The Kwang-Oh Massacre was a historic event.

At least, in this world it was.

They said it was monsters. Djinns, specifically.

A surprise attack on civilians, even reaching those who had taken shelter in an improvised evacuation center at the heart of the region.

Nine heroes died.

One of them was Hyeon-U, the Archer of the Sky Bow. One of the few heroes respected by both civilians and elites.

And also father of the future Divine Archer, Jin Seyeon.

But the truth…?

The truth was that it was all orchestrated.

By politicians, conglomerates, guild masters.

They let the monsters in so they'd have a reason to go in after them.

They killed the heroes.

They turned the massacre into a stage.

And now, I was here. In the middle of the shit. Reliving the spectacle firsthand.

"You know protecting someone never really works out, right?"

The woman came forward.

No time to think.

I shoved Kim Gongja aside with my forearm.

He yelled, but I didn't look.

I had to seem protective. Like a human shield.

A dumbass with a good heart — which, honestly, I was, to an extent.

The woman smiled at the gesture.

"Aww. Look at you. Trying to be a hero?"

That's what I wanted her to think.

That I cared. That the boy was my weakness.

In a way… he was.

Just not for the reason she imagined.

She came at me with the knife.

The glint of the blade flickered in time with her smile. The tip slashing the air like a snake.

I moved, raising the iron pipe.

Tried to hold my stance. Tried to anticipate.

Nothing worked.

The knife moved before I could think. And my body… reacted too slow.

The strikes came from absurd angles, hard to track, almost impossible to predict.

Her hand seemed to change position mid-swing. Her arms moved like they had extra joints.

The pipe shuddered. Buckled.

Each hit rattled down to my bones.

The blade danced. Reckless. But efficient.

She didn't use technique. She didn't need it. She had instinct.

She had hunger.

"You know what?" she giggled, her voice light and innocent, completely at odds with the stench of blood. "Let's see if you still act brave when your little toy breaks."

A twist of her hips.

A sharp kick, right into my ribs — threw me off-balance.

Air vanished.

The world spun.

Kim Gongja called my name — or tried to.

He fell—

And then came the sound.

The knife had sunk to the hilt into the boy's shoulder. Blood spraying like his body didn't even try to hold it in.

"Oops~"

She shrugged, like she'd knocked over a glass.

But that was my opening.

I lunged.

The tip of the pipe sliced through the air, aimed straight at her thigh.

Clean. Solid. Full weight behind it.

It hit.

The blade didn't block it — but her dodge was instinctive. Still, it carved a line into her flesh. Blood ran.

She looked down. Frowned.

Just a second.

"Tsk. Cute."

Her smile twisted into a sneer. She ducked, slid, and—

CLANK.

The knife struck the pipe.

It snapped like a dead branch.

"Now… no more toys."

I tried to step back, but my balance was garbage.

My legs were shorter. Center of gravity was off. Too much force, not enough weight.

Every step was a tripping hazard.

It felt like fighting inside a borrowed body.

She raised the knife again.

And this time, she didn't even look at me.

SHLKT.

The blade slid across Kim Gongja's throat.

He dropped without a sound. No scream.

No breath.

Just the thud of his body hitting the ground.

The fight was already over.

But the worst part was…

…I was still standing. And I had no idea why.

She turned to me, wiping the knife on the victim's clothes, and—

BOOOOOOM.

The ground shook.

Dust rose.

Far away, near the center of the street, something moved. Something big.

We both looked at the same time.

"Ah…" she sighed. "Our job's almost done."

The hero.

Hyeon-U.

The archer who was supposed to protect the city.

He was on his knees. Powerless.

In front of him stood the man with the fists.

One punch was all it took. All he needed.

Hyeon-U's head flew like a kicked ball. Spinning through the air, a red blur in the gray sky.

His body dropped right after.

Silent. Without honor.

The woman smiled again.

Her shadow stretching long across the cracked ground.

"Playtime's over."

The brute turned. Like he already knew there was no real threat left here.

He looked at me. Then at her.

The ground shook under his steps.

And then… he vanished.

In the blink of an eye, he was beside me.

The shadow he cast was larger than my whole body.

His hand… twice the size of my head.

Thick, solid, veins and scars etched deep like mountain fissures.

I froze.

My limbs locked up. Throat went dry.

Not even in front of a dungeon boss had I felt this.

Not when I nearly died. Not when I bled until the floor disappeared beneath me.

Every system in my perception screamed.

Run.Die.Give up.

The woman crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one leg, her tone casual.

"What're you waiting for?"

"Got curious," he said, eyes never leaving mine. His voice was so deep it felt like it came from beneath the earth. "You're here playing with a kid who's got nothing special."

"He tried to resist," she answered. "Not much, but… didn't feel like a total amateur. I wanted to see how far he'd go."

''It seems unbearably boring.''

The two looked at each other.

"Mm." Then she asked, "And the archer?"

"The idiot from earlier?"

He rolled his neck like cracking his shoulders.

"Disappointing. The fight started fun, but… once the bow stopped generating arrows, he was just some man holding a stick." He laughed. "Didn't even scream when his head came off."

His eyes returned to me.

"This one's done, yeah? Let's move. The shelter still has witnesses. The client's waiting."

"Tch. Impatient meathead." The woman snapped her fingers.

And then she moved.

She sank low, and in an instant, was beside me.

I dodged on instinct.

But… her eyes lit up.

She was playing again.

That wasn't the real stab. Just another little dance to build hope.

And that's when I felt it.

His hand.

Wrapping around my entire head like it was a rotten fruit about to be crushed.

He lifted me off the ground with one arm.

My body dangled in the air. Like a ragdoll.

"Just kill him already. Let's go."

"Since when do I take orders from you?" she shot back, sharp.

But still...

She came.

The knife drove into my gut.

All the way through.

Hot. Burning. Sharp.

She twisted the blade.

I screamed. Or tried to. The voice died before it reached my throat.

Another stab. Into my side.

One more. And another.

A slash to the arm. A cut down the leg. A gash over the collarbone.

I could feel my blood leaving me like it was evaporating.

Every drop. Every breath.

The pain… it made my mind black out and return, again and again.

Stabbed into the bone.

Shattered through the muscle.

My mind begged for unconsciousness.

But the pain resistance—

That damn pain resistance—

It kept me awake.

Awake for every second. Every new stab. Every new laugh from her.

And then...

[User has completed Stage One: Trauma.]

[It has been confirmed that user's sanity has been successfully preserved.]

[Initiating final stage: Redemption.]

[Necessary character adjustments are being made within the customized test scenario...]

[User is being transferred into the consciousness of Hyun-U.]

[You must kill one of the selected targets before the time limit expires, or before your imminent death.]

[Good luck, Perseus.]