The Smell of New Gates
The world tasted like iron.
Yeon-woo wiped the monster's thick blood from his blade with slow, mechanical movements, his mind still trapped between the haze of the last battle and the clarity demanded by survival.He had slain the rotten hydra. Its carcass was already decaying faster than natural, folding into itself, leaving only the dense core behind—a writhing sphere, dark green with veins of black corrosion running through it.
He exhaled slowly and summoned his profile without hesitation.
Name: Yeon-wooLevel: 21Health: 86%Stamina: 67%Active Skills: "Moonlight Blade Dance" (Lv. 7), "Regeneration" (Lv. 6), "Heightened Perception" (Lv. 4), "Bloom" (2nd Cycle), "Rotting Explosion" (Lv. 2), "Core Absorption" (Lv. 1), "Faceless Form" (Lv. 1)Passive Skills: "Steel Instinct" (Lv. 5), "Greed" (Lv. 1)Unique Trait: Regressor (2nd Cycle)New Item: "Core of the Rotten Hydra"
There was a strange, almost solemn comfort in seeing the numbers. Proof that he was moving forward. Proof that he wasn't trapped again, repeating the same mistakes, chained to a past he couldn't forget.
His gaze lingered on "Bloom."
The second cycle burned within him, a low, steady hum beneath his skin. His body remembered things his mind hadn't yet retraced fully. Sometimes when he moved, it felt almost as if another self—older, colder—was guiding his hands.
He crouched and picked up the hydra's core. It pulsed against his palm, faintly alive, filled with toxic energy.
Absorbing it would be risky. But risks were the language of survival.
Without waiting longer, Yeon-woo activated "Core Absorption." A thin, invisible current surged from his chest into the core, tearing it apart, drinking in its life.
[Core of the Rotten Hydra absorbed.][Skill Unlocked: "Venomous Resistance" (Lv. 1).][Passive Effect: Minor resistance to poisons gained.]
The taste of rot slid across his tongue, but he forced it down. His health bar flickered but stabilized before dropping too far.
Useful. Maybe not a weapon, but another small shield between him and death.
He straightened, body humming with the aftershocks of the absorption, and glanced toward the horizon.A low vibration ran through the cracked concrete under his boots. The smell of something sharp, electric, like ozone mixed with burning cloth, drifted through the air.
A new Gate.
He clenched his fist, feeling the raw edges of opportunity slicing at him.
He began walking, his steps slow, measured, almost soundless thanks to "Faceless Form" still faintly active. The ruined cityscape unfolded around him, a land stripped of life and color, just debris and the occasional broken skeleton of a building reaching toward the gray sky like dead fingers.
Along the way, he encountered smaller monsters—feral creatures twisted by the same sickness that had birthed the hydra. He moved through them like a shadow, using minimal effort, minimal stamina. "Moonlight Blade Dance" made short work of those who came too close, each motion clean, precise, unburdened by wasteful energy.
Every time he killed, "Greed" whispered in the background, siphoning scraps of experience and vitality. It wasn't just leveling faster—it was devouring, in the way wild animals consume their prey not out of cruelty but necessity.
Still, he checked his status again and again, almost obsessively.
[Experience: 76% to next level.][Bloom Resonance: Stable.][Greed Synchronization: 12%.]
He muttered under his breath, barely audible."Twelve percent, huh... still too slow."
In his previous life, he had moved cautiously. Too cautiously. It had gotten him killed before he could see the real players enter the field.
Not this time.
His thoughts swirled as he approached the epicenter of the vibration. There it was—a tear in the air itself, shimmering like broken glass floating upright, edges leaking multicolored mist.
A Gate.
And not just any Gate—a special one.
[Gate Detected: "Ruins of the Nameless Kingdom."][Recommended Level: 25+][Warning: Extremely hostile environment.][Reward for First Conquest: Unknown.][Entry available: Yes.]
Yeon-woo stared at the notifications, his heart hammering once against his ribs.
He remembered this place.
Vaguely.
In his past life, the Nameless Kingdom had swallowed dozens of rookie hunters alive before anyone even figured out what was inside. The survivors had spoken of a labyrinth, a breathing fortress filled with ancient, intelligent monsters.And artifacts.Artifacts that had tipped the balance of wars later on.
The catch? Entering too early was suicide.
Yeon-woo's fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.
He wasn't ready.
But he also didn't have time.
Gritting his teeth, he activated "Bloom" to its second cycle again, feeling the familiar flower of strength unfurl within his body. Muscles coiled tighter, nerves sharpened.Every beat of his heart felt synchronized with the pulse of the world around him.
He stepped into the Gate.
The world flipped.
For a moment, there was nothing but darkness and cold, not the physical cold of winter but the deeper, suffocating cold of being watched by something vast and unknowable.
Then light bled into view.
Yeon-woo found himself standing in a stone corridor, the walls etched with ancient, crumbling runes. The air was thick with mildew and something else—something like fear.
He didn't move immediately.
Instead, he checked his equipment, skills, body condition with mechanical precision, his instincts screaming caution.
A low growl echoed through the passage.
From the darkness ahead, something began to crawl forward.
Not sprint, not charge—crawl.
A massive beast, hunched over, covered in a tangled mess of black fur and broken bones stitched crudely into its flesh. One of its arms was little more than a malformed blade, dragging sparks from the stone as it moved.
Yeon-woo's mouth went dry.
[New Entity Identified: "Butcher Beast."][Threat Level: B-Rank.][Warning: Engage with caution.]
He drew his sword without a sound.
No thoughts of bravery, no fire speeches to himself. Just the cold calculation of angles, distance, timing.
He moved first.
A flicker of "Faceless Form" blurred his presence.
He appeared beside the beast in an instant, blade flashing, aiming for the vulnerable joint between neck and shoulder. The metal sliced deep—but not deep enough. The beast roared and retaliated with a savage sweep of its bladed arm.
Yeon-woo ducked, feeling the air crack open inches above his head.
He didn't try to win in one blow.
He used "Bloom," weaving around the monster's brute strength, landing blow after blow where the fur was thinnest, where the flesh was weakest.
Every time he struck, "Greed" sucked at the monster's life force, growing hungrier.
The battle wasn't fast. It was a slow, brutal dance, step by step.Pain, blood, exhaustion.
But Yeon-woo endured, letting instincts from a future that hadn't happened yet guide his hands.
When the beast finally collapsed, it did so with a final, wet grunt, as if surprised by its own death.
[Enemy Defeated: Butcher Beast.][Experience +3200.][Skill Efficiency Improved: "Moonlight Blade Dance" (Lv. 8).][Item Drop: "Torn Sigil."]
Yeon-woo stood over the corpse, panting heavily, blood dripping from several shallow wounds.
He looked at his status once more, almost compulsively.
Level: 22
A small, tired smile touched his lips.
One more step.
One more chance.
The labyrinth stretched before him, vast and hungry.
He walked forward.