Chapter 1: No Way Out

Chapter 1: No Way Out

The air was cold. Not freezing, but dead—the kind of cold that made your skin crawl, like it didn't belong anywhere natural.

Alex stood still, trying not to breathe too loudly. The ground beneath his feet was black stone, cracked in jagged lines, glowing faint red underneath like a dying ember. Around him stretched narrow corridors and rough, looming walls that stretched up into pitch black.

There was no sky. No sound. Just him.

And the silence.

What the hell just happened?

It was supposed to be a training run—a routine dungeon raid with his class. They'd done it before. Everyone had. Fighting monsters was normal. Dungeons were just another part of life now.

Even schools had incorporated them. Physical education meant gear, weapons, and walking into stabilized zones with real monsters and safety barriers.

But something went wrong.

That trap. The glyph under my feet... One second I was with the group—then that light hit, and everything vanished.

He looked down at his hands. Scraped. Bleeding. No weapon.

How far down did I fall? This place... it doesn't feel like the school's dungeon. This isn't a training zone.

He pressed a hand against the wall—it burned slightly, a faint, unnatural warmth. It didn't feel like regular mana. It was dense. Heavy. Like the dungeon was sick.

He looked around again. No paths. No markings. No exit.

No teachers. No classmates. No signal. They don't even know where I am.

His heart thudded harder.

Am I underground? Teleported? Shifted to another dungeon?

None of those answers mattered right now. What mattered was that he was alone… and that this dungeon wasn't designed for students.

A low growl echoed down the corridor behind him.

He turned slowly.

From the dark, a lizard-like creature slithered into view. Four limbs, gnarled claws, and eyes that glowed faint orange. Its skin peeled in places like it was molting—or rotting.

Alex backed up instinctively.

No weapon. No gear. No plan. Just survive.

The beast hissed and lunged. Alex dove to the side, hitting the stone hard. Pain flared up his ribs. He rolled, scrambled, grabbed a loose chunk of stone off the floor, and turned just in time to jam it into the monster's jaw as it lunged again.

The sharp edge sank in deep.

Blood poured across his arm. Hot. Sticky. The creature thrashed once, twice—then dropped.

Alex stumbled back, panting.

That… that wasn't like the training monsters. It moved faster. Smelled worse. Looked wrong.

He looked at the blood dripping from his fingers. His hand was shaking. A dull burn began to stir deep in his chest—somewhere behind his sternum, under his ribs.

It spread fast. Hotter. Wilder.

Like something had just... ignited.

His vision blurred for a second.

No voice. No glowing window. Just a word, burned into his head.

Skill unlocked: Devil Transformation

Alex collapsed against the wall, eyes wide, lungs struggling to keep up with the panic surging through him.

What kind of class even gives a power like that?

He didn't know what the skill did yet, but he could feel it—like a second heartbeat. Thrumming, waiting.

He wiped blood from his brow and winced. His hands hurt. His ribs ached. His uniform was torn, smeared with black blood and dirt.

I need a weapon. Something better than a rock.

He crouched next to the monster's corpse, tore a bone shard from its leg—jagged, curved, still warm. Crude, but better than nothing.

Then he stood.

And listened.

Nothing.

But the silence was... different now.

He was being watched.

Not by a person. Not even a specific monster.

By the dungeon itself.

Something was shifting—a grinding echo, like stone scraping on stone deeper down.

The floor knows I'm here.

He took a step forward.

The red glow in the cracks pulsed once.

Then again, faster.

He didn't know how big the floor was, how far he had to go to reach the stairs—if there even were stairs.

But if he stayed still, he'd die.

He started walking, slow and quiet.

Step by step, into the dark.

No one's coming. Not today. Not tomorrow. Maybe not ever.

So if I want to get out of here… I'll have to tear my way through.

And then he disappeared into the dark.