Chapter 8

The flickering glow of torches lined the jagged walls of Hollowfang Den as Ronan, the leader of the Emberlight Guild, stood at the dungeon entrance with a hardened expression. Their previous expedition had ended in humiliation. Their claim of an "invisible chain entity" lurking in the darkness had only fueled relentless mockery across the forums. Now, Ronan had returned, determined to prove that his guild had not simply been victims of a routine dungeon wipe.

"We do this clean. No reckless charges," he muttered, his grip tightening around the hilt of his sword. "This time, we get evidence."

The new expedition wasn't just another dungeon run. Ronan had hired an independent tracker, Veylin, a high-level scout known for uncovering hidden mechanics in dungeons. If there really was a mysterious force at play, Veylin would find it.

"The layout is unchanged since last time," Veylin murmured, scanning the cavern with his piercing gaze. "Standard wolf den structure, no visible anomalies. But if something here is manipulating combat, it won't be obvious. We'll need to bait it out."

Ronan nodded. "Then we do what we did last time, but this time, we document everything."

Unlike before, Hollowfang Den was different.

Duskrunner Alpha had grown stronger.

Unbeknownst to Emberlight, Raven had allowed Duskrunner Alpha to level up, pushing it beyond its original mechanics. The wolf no longer fought like a simple dungeon boss; it adapted to its enemies, adjusting its tactics based on player actions.

As the team moved deeper into the den, a low growl echoed through the cavern. The shadows flickered, and a blur of black streaked between the jagged rock formations.

"Contact!" shouted Veylin as he raised his crossbow, but the moment he did, Duskrunner vanished.

"Damn thing is moving faster than expected!" barked Darius, Emberlight's mage, his staff glowing with fire.

Then, without warning—

Duskrunner struck.

Elias, the healer, screamed as something flashed past him. A second later, his health bar plunged to near-zero before he even registered the hit. A second blow came before he could react, and then—

[Emberlight - Elias (Healer) has died!]

"Damn it!" Ronan cursed, turning toward their fallen teammate. He hadn't even had a chance to heal. The attack had been so precise, so calculated, that it felt like fighting a PvP assassin, not a dungeon boss.

"I saw it! I saw it!" Veylin exclaimed. "It didn't just charge randomly! It waited for us to turn away from the healer!"

Before Ronan could process this information, Duskrunner struck again.

Another member fell.

[Emberlight - Darren has died!]

Panic spread through the remaining members. Duskrunner was playing with them. Unlike their first encounter, where it had engaged in standard boss attacks, this time it was circling, watching, waiting for weaknesses.

Veylin made a desperate attempt to detect hidden mechanics, activating his Advanced Tracking Skill, a rare ability used to expose hidden traps or illusions. If there was any invisible "Chain Entity," it would be revealed.

Nothing.

The only enemy before them was Duskrunner Alpha.

"It's just the wolf!" Veylin gasped in realization. "There was never a chain monster!"

"But then what killed us before?!" Kalen, their rogue, shouted, fear creeping into his voice.

Duskrunner lunged, sinking its fangs into Kalen's throat.

[Emberlight - Kalen has died!]

Ronan was the last to fall. As Duskrunner Alpha circled him, he could feel the sheer disparity in power between them.

This wasn't a boss fight. This was an execution.

With one last swipe, his HP hit zero.

[Emberlight - Ronan has died!]

Darkness consumed his screen.

The moment they respawned at the city's revival point, Ronan rushed to the forums. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed a furious post.

[Emberlight Guild Wiped Again - Something is Wrong with Hollowfang Den]

He explained the insane difficulty spike, the unpredictable AI movement, and their previous wipe against the so-called Chain Entity.

The responses were immediate.

"LMAO noobz"

"You guys just suck."

"No chain attacks this time? Then what's your excuse?"

"You wiped twice to the same boss and think it's a hidden mechanic? Maybe just git gud."

Ronan clenched his jaw. No one believed them.

More posts began appearing, twisting the story further.

"First, they claimed a ghost was attacking them, now it's just an AI buff? Make up your mind!"

"I ran Hollowfang Den this morning and cleared it fine. You guys are just bad."

"Emberlight is officially the most embarrassing guild in the game."

Raven had just logged in for the day, stretching his fingers as he loaded into the game. The first thing he checked? The forums.

A satisfying smile played on his lips as he scrolled through the chaos. His first real victim had fallen.

Raven chuckled. Emberlight wasn't just being mocked—they were being dismantled.

And it was all according to plan.

Duskrunner Alpha had been set to level up steadily, growing in power over time, because Duskrunner are being prepared to be his partner now. And as partner, leveling up is important.

However, to avoid suspicion, Raven ensured that the boss would occasionally allow players to win—just enough times to make its difficulty seem normal. If Hollowfang Den remained unbeatable, people would investigate. But if some groups succeeded while others failed, it would just look like skill differences among players.

He glanced at the drop.

Among the usual dungeon loot, a Tracker's Omen had dropped—a rare enchanted wristband designed for tracking prey in the wild and uncovering hidden trails. Raven raised an eyebrow, inspecting its stats.

[Tracker's Omen - Epic Wristband]

Pathfinder's Insight: Highlights hidden paths and environmental weak points.

Stealth Disruption: Reduces enemy stealth effectiveness within a 15-meter radius.

Hunter's Mark: Tags a target, allowing the user to track their movement for 10 minutes.

Predator's Instinct: Reveals recent footprints and combat trails of creatures and players within dungeons.

This was interesting. A high-level scout wouldn't take losing such an item lightly. And if Veylin had dropped it, he would be looking for someone to blame. Who else to blame than Ronan?

Raven leaned back, amused. He continued to read the forum.